NYT: Colleges Open Minority Aid to All Comers(Bush Justice Dept. pressure)

[Pirate Smile]

Colleges Open Minority Aid to All Comers

By JONATHAN D. GLATER
Published: March 14, 2006

Facing threats of litigation and pressure from Washington, colleges and universities nationwide are opening to white students hundreds of thousands of dollars in fellowships, scholarships and other programs previously created for minorities.

Southern Illinois University reached a consent decree last month with the Justice Department to allow nonminorities and men access to graduate fellowships originally created for minorities and women.

In January, the State University of New York made white students eligible for $6.8 million of aid in two scholarship programs also previously available just for minorities. Pepperdine University is negotiating with the Education Department over its use of race as a criterion in its programs.
"They're all trying to minimize their legal exposure," Susan Sturm, a law professor at Columbia University, said about colleges and universities. "The question is how are they doing that, and are they doing that in a way that's going to shut down any effort or any successful effort to diversify the student body?"

-snip-
Advocates of focused scholarships programs like Theodore M. Shaw, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., challenge the notion that programs for minority students hurt whites. "How is it that they conclude that the great evil in this country is discrimination against white people?" Mr. Shaw asked. "Can I put that question any more pointedly? I struggle to find the words to do it because it's so stunning."


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/14/education/14minority.html?hp&ex=1142312400&en=f4ab13767a11c84c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. They freely flaunt Affirmative Access in our faces, and then they

cut the money to minorities. I hope they all land in a federal prison.

[Stephanie]

2. That's it? They just legislate affirmative action out of existence?

Remember when George didn't know what it was, in the debates? "If it means what I said I'm for, then I'm for it."

[Hekate]

4. Well, yes. There is no sharing the pie, certain people want it all.

Remember when Bush famously said "Make the pie higher"? Must've been a Freudian slip for "make it too high to reach."

And as for Affirmative Action, for which I worked so long, the backlash movement has been working to outlaw it all along. Californians did it with a ballot proposition.

Some folks just find it monumentally unfair that they should have to share ANYthing in society, and they'll whine 24/7 about how they are being discriminated against if they are made to share. It's like those right-wing Christians who claim they are being "persecuted" by the rest of us who want our government to adhere to the First Amendment.

So discouraging.

Hekate

[ninkasi]

16. Yes, Hekate

It's just terrible, the way white male Christians have been denied the same rights that minorities, women, gays, and religions other than Christianity have enjoyed for so many hundreds of years. :sarcasm: Funny, though, I've never seen an article that asks if America is ready for a white man for president, although there have been a lot asking the same questions about women or minorities.

[Horse with no Name]

3. I find something new to be ashamed about in this country daily

To put it in terms they can understand, this is sinful.

[rodeodance]

13. yes, every day there is something new to be ashamed of.

[moobu2]

5. Wow, this is very disheartening.

[OneBlueSky]

6. my first reaction was "Unbelievable!" . . . but then I remembered . . .

who we're dealing with, and it's all perfectly believable . . . expected, as a matter of fact . . .

minority scholarships were put in place for a reason, i.e. to redress past inequities that stretch back to the beginning of our nation . . . they have served that purpose well over the years, and to neuter them because of some neocon notion of "equality" just sickens me . . .

[bobbieinok]

7. just totally SICK..way to keep college further out of reach of minorities

in just a very short time we'll be back to the 'golden days' when there were no minorities in college

is bushco going to demand that Howard U only admit whites???

[MadMaddie]

15. And if the opportunites for college are drying up....

and a minority wants to get out of their poor environment....how do they get out...

They join the military!!

[salin]

8. reminds me of Dan Quayle

remember - the only way he got into law school - due to his less than stellar performance in college, was through special set aside slots (for minority students) of which he - disadvantaged as he was ( :eyes: ) - received one of those slots.

Granted this is about scholarships rather than admission slots - the story made me think of the ridiculousness of the Quayle story.

Wonder if some of the Us doing this will face loss of some of those scholarship dollars - as in the money was given or the scholarship available (if through a third party) is determined better not spent than spent in ways that do not promote the goals of the program (expanding access.) Perhaps these funds and scholarships will follow qualified students to other universities.

[readmoreoften]

9. Cool. Last semester I only taught one African American student.

Looks like I won't have any now. (I swear, I think the African-American student population at NYU is well under 1% no matter what their bullshit statistics say.)

We're going back to the 1800s, I swear.

[cap]

10. they purged sr civil rights lawyers in the DOJ

a year or two ago and put in their plants.

I can see a special case for white students coming from historically underpriviledged areas like Appalachia -- but I would have put this into a different category than those scholarships created for minorities.

How about simply more funding for student aid at the federal level and ensuring historically underprivileged areas are included as well as minorities?

This is race baiting -- nothing to do with fairness.

[cap]

11. Center for Equal Opportunity sounds like one of those astroturf

groups the Right Wing has been growing. Has nothing to do with the base. Why are shell organizations being quoted?

[cap]

12. Linda Chavez of Fox is on the board

no blacks or Asians are on the board either. So are AEI folks. Nothing to do with the grass roots

[midnight]

14. Funding for minorities is not addressing the real need.

Funding for people in need should be the issue being addressed. To say that because you are from a certain back ground gives you preference is just as short sighted as giving one preference for ones looks. There are people all over the map who need funding. It will be interesting to see the criteria that is used to be eligible for this funding.

[Blaze Diem]

17. Have to agree on your post...Here in Texas

and either Az or New Mexico, (can't recall which one)...the Hispanic population is no longer a minority..62 % of Texas population is now Hispanic..legal or non-legal..
the rest of us are the minority.
So now what?

Seems there is a case for your post indeed.
It should be based on need or as the grantor deemed.
Im NOT being racist..just stating a fact.

I believe the Black population is STILL the one that remains at a disadvantage in such areas...just an observation.

It will indeed be interesting to see the eligiblty criteria.

[Pirate Smile]

18. kick