THE COLOR OF MONEY: Running out of options

"Penn's $25,000 tuition is worse than putting up a sign that says 'No Blacks Allowed.'" The Oct. 27 Podberesky v. Kirwan decision, which found race-based scholarships to be unconstitutional in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, leaves the future of minority scholarships in question. And the pending appeal of this court decision further clouds the race-based scholarship issue. In 1990, Daniel Podberesky, a Hispanic student, requested consideration for a four-year, full-tuition, non-need-based scholarship under the University of 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. In wake of the October decision, some institutions have already begun to look for alternative methods to attract minority students to college. In states presently affected by the Podberesky decision, it is too soon to predict its impact on universities. "I need [legal] interpretation of the decision, but we will comply with the law," said James Belvin, the director of Undergraduate Financial Aid at Duke University. The state of Maryland along with the University of Maryland at College Park has requested an en banc hearing of the case. If granted, it would mean that a panel of all 13 justices of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals would hear the case rather than just the three judges who issued the October decision. The request will most likely be denied. "[The defendants] have a virtually zero chance of being reheard," said Richard Samp, lead council for the plaintiff, who submitted his rejection of the en banc hearing on Nov. 25. If denied, Maryland will request a U.S. Supreme Court hearing of the case, which will most probably be granted because of the federal and state governments' stake in the case -- they promote minority scholarships through affirmative action directives. "If the government asks, the Supreme Court will hear it," Samp said. If the Podberesky case is heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, which would not happen until after the 1994-1995 term, race-based scholarships may be abolished nationwide. "This decision, if affirmed in the Supreme Court, would be the death knell for all minority scholarships," Samp said. Some university officials across the country say the threat of losing minority scholarships is frightening. Officials at the University of Florida at Gainesville, the 1994 winner of the National Association of Graduates Admissions Professionals Award for Graduate Admissions of Minority Students, find themselves asking how the school would function without race-based grants. "It's very interesting," said Jane Burman-Holton, director of Programs and Information for Graduate and Minority Programs. "If you wanted to recruit minorities, what would you use?" To combat this very real question, several scholarship programs have started to consider alternatives to race-based grants. In order to target the students that were formerly distinguished by race requirements, the Department of Education, in awarding its Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program limits eligibility to first generation college students whose income does not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level and who are members of an ethnic group that is underrepresented in graduate education. Some experts don't think that lack of money is the main problem impeding minority students. The problem is the lack of college preparation. "You can get the money from the government if you have the academic ability to stay in school," said Sam Evans, chairperson of the American Foundation for Negro Affairs (AFNA). Evans said professors often discriminate against minorities in the classroom. "When black students are put on scholarship, they can't succeed academically," he said. "[Discrimination] is no further than the tip of the teacher's marking pen." Evans added that in addition to discrimination, other obstacles many African American students face is inadequate preparation for college. To better prepare black students for college, AFNA created an alternative to scholarships that lower standards for minority student recipients by creating special programs which enable these students to compete with the mainstream. AFNA's summer program, which has held classes on the University's campus, allows Philadelphia African-American students to attend courses designed to give them extra help in areas that will facilitate their success in college. "When we set up the program, minorities were three percent of all professionals, but were 12 to 14 percent of the population," Evans said. "In order to increase professions among minorities, we set up the program to aid students in meeting the academic requirements of the school he or she attends." Since its birth in 1968, Evans boasts that AFNA's program has had 7,000 graduates, with 370 doctors and 250 lawyers and doctorate degrees. He added that it has been selected by the government as a model for the nation. Evans said he supports the abolition of all minority scholarships. Instead, he says, college should be affordable for everyone. "Penn's $25,000 tuition is worse than putting up a sign that says 'No Blacks Allowed'," Evans said. "Blacks were kept out of universities for 100 years and as soon as they were let in, tuition was raised four times as much." Evans said this trend is like restaurants raising prices to maintain their caucasian clientele. The phenomenon of increasing tuition has been held responsible by many for the discrepancy in minority enrollment at universities, regardless of financial programs present at these schools. This statistic is difficult to measure, however, because often students who do not think they can afford a school will not apply, according to Bill Schilling, director of Undergraduate Student Financial Aid. While some think lowering tuition is the answer, others think the number of minority scholarships should be increased. Pat Walton, assistant director of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Maryland would like to see a larger number of race-based grant programs. She believes that they improve conditions of discrimination. "I would like to see programs for every minority," she said. "Change comes gradually, whatever is popular gets noticed first." By 2004, 68 percent of high school graduates will be minorities, according to Jane Burman-Holton, director of programs and information for Graduate and Minority Programs at Maryland. "In the long run we will switch to recruiting caucasians and simply recruiting the ethnic group that is underrepresented," Burman-Holton said. Because of the relatively small scholarship fund held by the University and the current controversy surrounding minority scholarships, the financial aid offices are weary of any change at all. "We want to continue to be able to overcome the financial obstacles for our students," Schilling said. "With federal programs not increasing, we're faced with a challenge that we'll have to deal with over the next five to ten years." Graduate program administrators expressed similar sentiments. "I hate to see anything to happen to financial aid which might jeopardize it," said Vice-Provost for Graduate Education Janice Madden. "Anything that happens to financial aid is disturbing." The debate over minority scholarships is a multi-faceted issue with as many different viewpoints as recipients. Policy makers are being faced with compelling arguments on both sides of the issue and the solution does not seem close at hand. "You could probably write two or three books on why we are in the situation we are in today," said Jean Girves, associate director of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. "It is not simple how we got here and it is not simple how we get out of it."

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