THE COLOR OF MONEY: A Double Standard

Many see minority scholarshipsMany see minority scholarshipscreating much-needed opportunities.Many see minority scholarshipscreating much-needed opportunities.But others feel these scholarships areMany see minority scholarshipscreating much-needed opportunities.But others feel these scholarships arelowering standards and insulting theMany see minority scholarshipscreating much-needed opportunities.But others feel these scholarships arelowering standards and insulting theintelligence of minority students These days, it's not always the thought that counts. Minority scholarships, although implemented to meet a wide variety of well-intended goals, are encountering increasing resistance from students and society alike. Some students said last week minority scholarships are degrading because they assume minorities cannot compete with the mainstream. And other critics wonder how a scholarship committee can determine the race of a student who has a mixed background. Some have said students try to manipulate the system for their own personal gain. Academics have also said these types of scholarships further divide the races rather than diversify student bodies. Sam Evans, chairman of the American Foundation for Negro Affairs, said although institutions establish these scholarships as compensation for past discrimination, the harm that comes from further separating the races far outweighs any financial advantage. "Schools should not have special scholarships for minority students," Evans said. "Minorities aren't asking for special treatment, they're asking for equal treatment." Students with mixed ethnicities also pose a problem for the system of minority scholarships. Angela Todd, a Committee on Institutional Cooperation staff member, said multiethnic students sometimes cause confusion for scholarship selection. She said eligibility for certain scholarships "depends on the situation." "Every now and then someone will call if they're half and half," she said. "Some are Asian and Mexican, but Asian isn't covered. To be considered, you have to consider yourself Mexican." She added that mulatto students also have difficulties applying for minority scholarships. "Mulatto is not covered," she said. "It is better to say that you feel black." Graduate School of Education Associate Dean Nancy Streim said federal guidelines exist to categorize minorities, but they are not distributed to those applying for the Foster Fellowship, GSE's minority scholarship. She added GSE uses self-report data to determine races. "It is one's experience in life where you find your real identity," she said. Streim said students who are only one-sixteenth black, for example, are not abusing the system if they apply for scholarship money. "It is more important that [applicants'] goals be consistent with Dr. Foster's," she said. Foster was a University alumnus who was assassinated while working in a high school in Oakland, Calif. But she does admit that "there is a fuzzy area between your lineage and your race." Administrators of various colleges also said students may try to manipulate the system to their own advantage, although it is unlikely. "There is a possibility of abuse of the system, but I haven't seen it come up," said Robin Gabriel, Assistant Director of Admissions and Coordinator of Multiethnic Recruitment at College of Wooster. "If the student wanted to play games, they'd be putting their reputation on the line," Gabriel said. Still, advocates cite many justifications for the establishment of these grants. Minority scholarship programs in Florida were created to compensate for traditional discrimination that plagued the public school systems since their foundations. In 1969, the University of Maryland at College Park established its program in an effort to diversify its 99 percent white student body. One consistent claim is that standardized tests, like the Scholastic Aptitude Test, which are commonly used as criteria for the awarding of scholarships, are biased. Congresswoman Cardiss Collins (D – Ill.) endorsed the Black Coaches Association on Sept. 23, 1995 in recommending the abandonment of the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college entrance requirements. She also supported the elimination of SAT scores for athletic eligibility in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Illinois Democrat said the test is racially and culturally biased. At the University of Maryland-College Park, standardized test bias was one reason minority students were not winning the Francis Scott Key Scholarship, the university's race-neutral scholarship, according to Pat Walton, the assistant director of undergraduate admissions. "The [Key] scholarships are based on SAT scores and they discriminate against minority students," Walton said. "Academic criteria is different across cultural lines and the SAT is a better indicator for white students." Walton said many minority students are not raised in comparable environments to white students and therefore should not have to compete with them for scholarships. "Caucasian students may have more opportunity to take SAT prep courses and may better use the type of analytical thinking necessary for the test," she added. College junior Lisa Foreman agreed, adding that minority students in public high schools often cannot prepare for standardized testing as well as other students. "I don't see anything wrong with lowering standards because blacks score lower on the SAT," she said. "I believe they are biased. I didn't have books that prepared me for the SAT. Public schools are just different from private schools." But other minority students find the lowering of standards for minority scholarships unacceptable and insulting. "[A minority scholarship] disadvantages the person and it's an insult," said College junior Samantha Ching. "It's insulting because they're saying you can't get in on your own. It's saying they're just dumber, they don't meet up to par." College junior Cynthia Lam agreed, adding that minority scholarships "breed suspicion." "People feel you're inferior because it's questionable how you got where you are," Lam said. "You don't see the real person, you only see that they were given all these opportunities." "It may lead you to question your own self," Lam added. Janice Gams, associate for Public Affairs at The College Board said that all standardized tests report discrepancies in the scores of minority groups as compared with overall averages. But no valid research has produced evidence for cultural bias on the SAT, she said. Gams reiterated many of the same factors as Walton in accounting for the differences in scores across ethnic groups. "Minority students may not take the same academic courses [as white students]," Gams said. "[They] may come from poorer families, and their families may have less education." But opponents of minority scholarships do not think it appropriate to allot money solely on the basis of skin color. Currently, the biggest obstacle for race-based scholarships is the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which on Oct. 27, decided that minority scholarships are unconstitutional in Podberesky v. Kirwan. The three-judge panel in the case held that University of Maryland at College Park failed to present sufficient evidence that a race-based scholarship is necessary and legal on its campus. "It thus remains our constitutional premise that race is an impermissible arbiter of human fortunes," the judgment stated. "The injustice of judging human beings by the color of their skin is so apparent that racial classifications cannot be rationalized by the casual invocation of benign remedial aims." In 1990, Daniel Podberesky, a Hispanic student requested consideration for a four-year, full-tuition, non-need-based scholarship under Maryland's Benjamin Banneker Scholarship Program. Although the school admitted Podberesky was qualified for the scholarship, University of Maryland officials said the scholarship was only open to black students. The panel of judges said in their decision that the Maryland's Banneker Scholarship Program does not meet the constitutional criteria for race-conscious measures because discrimination is not currently prevalent on Maryland's campus. The Court of Appeals went on to say that although the program is used to attract high-achieving African American students to the University of Maryland, "High-achievers, whether African-American or not, are not the groups against which the University discriminated in the past."

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