THE COLOR OF MONEY: What's a fair share?

On Oct. 27, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rendered an unprecedented decision, shocking university administrators nationwide -- minority scholarships are unconstitutional. Although the judgement in Podberesky v. Kirwan only affects the states under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Circuit -- Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North and South Carolina -- it raises questions about minority scholarships across the country. The three-judge panel for the case held that the University of Maryland at College Park failed to present sufficient evidence that a race-based scholarship is necessary and legal on its campus. In 1990, Daniel Podberesky, a Hispanic student with a 4.0 high school GPA and a 1340 SAT score, requested to be considered for a four-year, full-tuition, non-need-based scholarship under the school's Benjamin Banneker Scholarship Program. Although the school admitted Podberesky was qualified for the scholarship, University of Maryland said the scholarship was only open to black students, not Hispanic students. Podberesky then filed suit in 1990 in U.S. District Court in Maryland. A minority, or race-based, scholarship is one which considers only those students of minority ethnicities such as African American, Mexican American, Native American, Puerto Rican and Pacific Islander, said Angela Todd, who works on the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, a joint effort of the Big Ten universities to increase opportunities for minority graduate students. In recent years, the number of programs designed specifically for these groups has vastly increased, bringing with it increased controversy. College administrators' motives for implementing these programs are as varied as the ethnic groups they target. Many schools hope race-based scholarships will help diversify their student bodies. Others say these scholarships compensate minorities for past discrimination. And some offer scholarships to try and train minorities to work in fields where ethnic professionals are under represented. "I think that [minority scholarships] are a vital aspect of a lot of students' attaining an education," said College senior Liz Melendez, United Minority Council chairperson. "It is a tool or mechanism that has been implemented to help minority students come up to par or reach the same playing field as majority students." But some groups have said the problems surrounding these scholarships outweigh their benefits. One court has already said these scholarships are unconstitutional. Others ask how a college or scholarship committee can determine an applicant's race, if he or she has a mixed background. And some minority students said they consider race-based scholarships an insult because these scholarships assume minority students need extra help. "In theory it's slightly insulting to create a black scholarship with lower standards," said Undergraduate Assembly member and College junior Eric Tienou. "Once other students see that I'm an African American, they would think that I got here on lower standards, when I have worked as hard as they have." Colleges and universities continue to offer these scholarships despite the controversy surrounding them. And the University itself is not immune from this trend toward minority scholarships, despite its policy not to give merit or sports scholarships. Every year the University's Undergraduate Office of Financial Aid receives endowments from private corporations which express a preference for minority recipients, said Bill Schilling, director of Undergraduate Aid. He said because of University policy, he simply distributes this money to the best-qualified, needy recipient. "Our policy is to meet the needs of any needy students, regardless of race," he explained. The Wharton Graduate Office of Financial Aid also reports distributing corporate minority scholarships, said Michelle Palmer, associate director of admissions at Wharton Graduate Division. When establishing such a scholarship, corporations such as General Electric request the financial aid office to pick the minority recipient or to select several students to be considered by the corporation, Palmer said. The Graduate Office of Financial Aid, however, established its own Fontaine Fellowship in 1968 in honor of the University's first fully affiliated black faculty member, Professor William Fontaine, said Janice Madden, the vice provost for Graduate Education. Madden said the full-tuition and full-support fellowship was founded for minorities because establishing such a scholarship was the best way to honor the late Professor Fontaine. College officials across the country say minority scholarships are the most effective means to attract minority students to attend their schools. Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. established its scholarship program to attract minority students to the school. The scholarship the school offers, the Geno Baroni Scholarship, is a $5,000 per year minority grant based on financial need. "It was created for recruitment reasons, we wanted to increase minority enrollment," said Paul Patelunas, the director of Financial Aid for Catholic University. Similarly, the Clarence B. Allen Scholarship, a $12,000, non-need based grant began the College of Wooster's minority enrollment drive. "We want to continue the Afro-American presence on campus and encourage enrollment," explained Robin Gabriel, Wooster assistant director of admissions and coordinator of multiethnic recruitment. Gabriel said minority students feel their only chances to receive scholarships are through sports. Therefore, she said she feels a need to create scholarships to keep up Wooster's present rate of minority enrollment -- 30 students a semester. "We have to show that we are dedicated to enrolling [minority students]," she continued. "There are other incentives for them to come besides sports." And, colleges with historically single race enrollment hope that offering money to minority students will make up for past biases. University systems such as those of Maryland and Florida started race-based scholarship programs to compensate for years of discrimination against minority groups, especially African Americans. "The whole state had discriminated against minority students and we wanted to address that with affirmative action," said Frank Valines, associate director of Client Services at UMCP. In 1978, the Florida Board of Regents determined that the public educational system had to start programs which would redress the systemic discrimination that had been practiced for the majority of Florida's history, according to Regina Sofer, associate vice chancellor and director of Equal Opportunity Programs of the Florida Boards of Regents. Accordingly, the University of Florida-Gainesville, along with the rest of the Florida schools, started its Graduate Minority Fellowship and its McKnight Doctoral Fellowship, which are full-tuition minority scholarships, said Jane Burman-Holton, the director of Programs and Information for Graduate and Minority Programs at the University of Florida. "The federal government almost revoked funding," Sofer said. "[The federal government] said, 'If you choose to be federal government contractors, start these programs with state money.' " The University of Maryland at College Park created its Benjamin Banneker Scholarship Program, the program named in last month's court decision, to "recruit a talented pool to the state," said Maryland Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions Pat Walton. "These students are [sought] after across the country," she said. "We want the leaders and minority scholarships are the best way to recruit the best and the brightest." "There is a need for more money for American minority students," said Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid at Thunderbird University John Skillings. "In order to maintain the caliber of our students we had to establish these fellowships." Minority scholarships remain a debated issue. Universities and colleges continue to have them and offer minority students money and incentives to attend their school. At the same time, these scholarships will always have critics. But until the appeal of the Podberesky v. Kirwan decision is heard, administrators and students nationwide will be playing a waiting game.

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