White only scholarship in R.I.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-03-21 04:41pm

Whites-Only Scholarship Stirs R.I. College

By MICHAEL MELLO
Associated Press Writer

March 20, 2004, 7:53 AM EST

BRISTOL, R.I. -- On the sleepy coastal campus of Roger Williams University, a small liberal arts school unaccustomed to student activism, the College Republicans are reveling in the debate they've kicked up by offering a scholarship for whites only.

The $250 award -- which required an essay on "why you are proud of your white heritage" and a recent picture to "confirm whiteness" -- has invited the wrath of everyone from minority groups and school officials to the chairman of the Republican National Committee himself.

Jason Mattera, a junior who started the conservative campus group in his freshman year, said kindling debate over free speech and affirmative action was just what he wanted -- and he promises more.

"We did our job," said Mattera, 20, of Brooklyn, N.Y. "This is what college is all about, challenging the status quo."

They did such a good job that school President Roy Nirschel, who has clashed with the group before, cut short a trip to Vietnam last month to begin what he called "a healing process" -- including forming a commission on civil discourse.

The 35-member group first went toe-to-toe with university administration last year over a series of monthly newsletter articles accusing homosexuals of squelching free speech by pushing for hate-crimes legislation. The articles alleged that a well-known gay-rights group indoctrinates students into homosexual sex.

The administration froze the College Republicans' money for two days. Nirschel said in turn, he received threatening letters claiming he was suppressing the group.

Then another article critical of Kwanzaa, which celebrates the history and heritage of Africa, sparked a complaint by a multicultural student group.

Before the Student Senate had a chance to deal with that issue, the College Republicans came up with the whites-only scholarship.

The application for the $250 award required an essay on "why you are proud of your white heritage" and a recent picture to "confirm whiteness."

"Evidence of bleaching will disqualify applicants," read the application.

Mattera, who is of Puerto Rican descent, said the scholarship was a parody of minority scholarships. Mattera himself was awarded a $5,000 scholarship from the Hispanic College Fund, he said.

"Those who come from white (descent) are left to find scholarships on their own," Mattera said.

The whites-only scholarship generated national publicity, which angered university officials and many students who worried their school was being labeled as racist. Minorities make up less than 10 percent of the 3,400 full-time undergraduates.

Some minorities on campus, like Maria Ahmed, a 20-year-old junior from Providence, felt targeted.

"At first it was about the newspaper, just about every issue they were bashing some small minority group," said Ahmed, whose parents were born in Nigeria. "It's hard being a minority on campus, and it felt like (they) were directly talking about you."

The scholarship was criticized by the state Republican Party and Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee. In a Feb. 17 letter to Mattera, Gillespie said the scholarship conveys a "message of exclusion" that doesn't represent the party's values. He suspended the group's right to use the party's symbols.

Nirschel, who says he's eager to attract more minority students and faculty members, called the scholarship "repugnant" and convened a town meeting on campus he said attracted more than 500 people.

The meeting, he said, was the first of its kind in the university's history.

His commission on civil discourse includes faculty and student members and has already decided to organize a debate team and create a journal. "This has caused me to redouble our efforts to make the campus open," Nirschel said.

Mattera's cause has seen plenty of support, too.

Increased donations raised the scholarship, which was initially only supposed to be for $50, to $250. The American Civil Liberties Union backed the group's right to free speech after the Student Senate considered taking away its funding after the scholarship was awarded to Adam Noska, a 21-year-old junior from Weymouth, Mass. The Senate set aside the issue.

Some students just liked the idea of a whites-only scholarship.

"Nothing gets to me more than affirmative action," said Jamie Pattison, 19, a sophomore from Marblehead, Mass. "People want handouts."

Despite initial plans to make the scholarship annual, Mattera said it won't be offered next year.

"We'll continue to fight affirmative action ... but I think I made the point," he said.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press

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Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-03-21 05:09pm

I see Mattera remains a hypocrite...

The Albino Raven · Post by **The Albino Raven** » 2004-03-21 05:10pm

The scholarship brings up an interesting point, and I think it should be addressed, but I see the reason for not having "white-only" scholarships as deceptive. As I see it, in this country, people are always trying to make class issues into race issues. If people would stop issuing scholarships based on race and instead based on shitty economic condition, they would still reach many of the minorities who needed the money, but also the whites who were impoverished. Race has always been used to divide the country so the rich can take advantage of a situation.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-03-21 05:27pm

I agree with the above post. Change the scholarships from race based to economic based and tell the 'we're white, poor us' crowd to fuck off.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-03-21 05:27pm

The Albino Raven wrote:The scholarship brings up an interesting point, and I think it should be addressed, but I see the reason for not having "white-only" scholarships as deceptive. As I see it, in this country, people are always trying to make class issues into race issues. If people would stop issuing scholarships based on race and instead based on shitty economic condition, they would still reach many of the minorities who needed the money, but also the whites who were impoverished. Race has always been used to divide the country so the rich can take advantage of a situation.

I agree completely. Colleges today are basing far too much of their decision-making processes on race, and far too little on economic conditions. I see a white person who grew up impoverished in an almost exclusively black inner-city area as having at least the same problems, and potentially even more problems, as a black person from the same neighborhood whose family had a similar level of income over the same time period. Colleges, however, mostly ignore the white student's difficulties in their struggle to remain "need-blind," and instead devote their scholarships and diversity-encouraging behaviors to the impoverished black student. This is a significant issue in college admissions that needs to be addressed, and while I disagree with some of the methods that this club is using, many of its fundamental messages are sound.

sketerpot · Post by **sketerpot** » 2004-03-21 06:01pm

Wicked Pilot wrote:I agree with the above post. Change the scholarships from race based to economic based and tell the 'we're white, poor us' crowd to fuck off.

I imagine that if you changed the scholarships from race based to need based then most of these people would be very happy. Any who aren't... well, they can fuck off.

Dark Hellion · Post by **Dark Hellion** » 2004-03-21 06:41pm

I have to say that the above about need based scholarships is very true. I am white, very white, but am not very rich. If I was black or hispanic, I would be getting a very nice amount of assistance for college, but because I am white and live in a nice high valued house (when you buy on bank auctions you can get half price) I get fucked in the ass and get $0, not a single dollar. It's fucking stupid.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-03-21 07:15pm

minority students at RWU? since when? did you know what RWU really stands for? Rich White Underachivers.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-03-21 09:02pm

The Albino Raven wrote:The scholarship brings up an interesting point, and I think it should be addressed, but I see the reason for not having "white-only" scholarships as deceptive. As I see it, in this country, people are always trying to make class issues into race issues. If people would stop issuing scholarships based on race and instead based on shitty economic condition, they would still reach many of the minorities who needed the money, but also the whites who were impoverished. Race has always been used to divide the country so the rich can take advantage of a situation.

True, but then again, the rich and middle-class could just as easily claim that it is class discrimination to offer scholarships only to the poor (in fact, I have heard this exact whine with regards to educational grants and loans in real-life, so I'm not just making up a bogeyman). At some point, people must learn to accept that there is a distinction between giving special treatment to an underprivileged class as opposed to a privileged one.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-03-21 10:08pm

Affirmative action in the U.S. is entirely a fraud, with almost total disregard to economic status.

I would've already qualified for the Honor group at UF ahead of better scoring and better performing white students because I am Hispanic. I live in a wealthy upper-class neighborhood. My family's annual income is obscene: ~400,000 USD.

The Albino Raven · Post by **The Albino Raven** » 2004-03-22 07:10pm

[quote="Darth Wong]True, but then again, the rich and middle-class could just as easily claim that it is class discrimination to offer scholarships only to the poor (in fact, I have heard this exact whine with regards to educational grants and loans in real-life, so I'm not just making up a bogeyman). At some point, people must learn to accept that there is a distinction between giving special treatment to an underprivileged class as opposed to a privileged one.[/quote]

True, but since the goals of scholarships are to make college more affordable, and college is already more affordable for the rich, I don't see where they can bitch. Yes, they did have to earn their money, but, they also have a hell of a lot more than any scholarship will ever offer, so I don't see why their complaint is legit.

Cornelius · Post by **Cornelius** » 2004-03-22 07:34pm

I imagine that if you changed the scholarships from race based to need based then most of these people would be very happy. Any who aren't... well, they can fuck off.

It should also be based upon merit, not just economic need. For example, there are people who are neither poor nor rich, and college is ridiculously expensive. There is no reason anyone should get anything just on economic need. Middle class should get it too based on intelligence combined with the lower classes based on need.

And yes, I know, they do have scholarships based on intelligence, but a lot they said I cannot get cause im not poor enough.

The rich, however, have nothing to complain about, for they have enough money to do whatever they want.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-03-22 09:01pm

Cornelius wrote:And yes, I know, they do have scholarships based on intelligence, but a lot they said I cannot get cause im not poor enough.

There are VERY few merit-based scholarships left in major American colleges and universities. Almost all of the prestigious schools only give grants based on economic "need," which is VERY strangely defined by the American college system.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2004-03-22 11:03pm

The problem is, "white" covers so many different things that to classify it as a distinct group is retarded.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-03-22 11:11pm

Darth Yoshi wrote:The problem is, "white" covers so many different things that to classify it as a distinct group is retarded.

That can be said about practically every ethnic designation. I just like the way their statistics frequently lump Arabs in with Caucasians while providing several different country choices for Asia, including differentiations between Vietnamese and Laosians, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese.

Fire Fly · Post by **Fire Fly** » 2004-03-23 12:48am

Nitpick...pretty sure its spelled Laotian, a friend of mine is Laotian.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-03-23 12:53am

Fire Fly wrote:Nitpick...pretty sure its spelled Laotian, a friend of mine is Laotian.

Oops. You're quite correct. I don't know what I was thinking when I typed that.