A&M group offers scholarships for `overcoming' affirmative action

Houston Chronicle ^ | 02/19/2004 | Ron Nissimov

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Parodying affirmative action policies, a conservative student group at Texas A&M University will offer scholarships next year to students who pen winning essays about "overcoming" affirmative action.

The scholarships -- for $5,000, $3,500 and $1,500 -- will be awarded next year in the "Overcoming Affirmative Action Essay Contest," sponsored by the Young Conservatives at Texas A&M and the conservative Texas Review Society, a nonprofit organization that publishes the Austin Review, Texas Education Review, the Houston Review and the Examiner (at Texas A&M).

Earlier this week, the College Republicans at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Conn., announced a $250 scholarship available only to white students. That scholarship requires an essay on "why you are proud of your white heritage" and a picture to "confirm whiteness."

Matthew Maddox, an A&M senior from Tomball who is chairman of the campus YCT organization, said the Texas scholarships are open to all students.

"We certainly hope to get applicants who are not white," Maddox said. "I know for a fact that not all minorities agree with affirmative action policies."

Applicants must submit an essay of 1,500 words or less describing "how you or a family member have overcome institutionalized discrimination and/or the stigma imposed by policies giving preference to particular racial or ethnic groups in college admissions, employment and other competitive arenas."

The essays will be partially evaluated on "the applicant's narrative of how he or she has worked to overcome the adversity created by such preferences."

Cedrick Bates, a black junior from Houston, said the scholarship will only perpetuate the image of the campus as being inhospitable to minorities.

"A lot of minority students aren't going to want to come here when they see something like this that opposes affirmative action," Bates said.

Maddox said the scholarships are being funded by alumni who want to remain anonymous and hope to "counter the increased racialization of A&M's admissions policy."

In December, A&M President Robert Gates became the only president of a major U.S. university to voluntarily decide not to use race preferences in admissions or scholarships.

Maddox said the university is nevertheless implementing race-based policies, including "graduate diversity fellowships" designed to increase the number of minority graduate students. According to a January memo, applicants will be evaluated partly on their "experiences as a minority student or as a nonminority student from a diverse environment."

Another memo from October 2003 specifies the percentages of minorities that should be hired in various engineering departments, explaining that "the numbers are not quotas, but rather goals corresponding to our expectations."

"They have very specific percentages they've set as targets," Maddox said. "They can rename it, but it's still a quota."

[jtminton]

Almost makes me want to send my son to A&M. Almost.

[KantianBurke]

Another memo from October 2003 specifies the percentages of minorities that should be hired in various engineering departments, explaining that "the numbers are not quotas, but rather goals corresponding to our expectations." "They have very specific percentages they've set as targets," Maddox said. "They can rename it, but it's still a quota."

What kind of legal recourse can be taken to rectify this bs?

[cyborg]

This is certainly a better approach than the other scholarship, which seemed to be more hypocritical and hostile than anything else.

[SwinneySwitch]

YCT, you gotta love 'em!

[per loin]

Are Asians classed as minorities in the "various engineering departments" or do they do too well as engineers?

[steplock]

GiG 'Em AGGIES!

[Southack]

Whoop!

[Khurkris]

"Are Asians classed as minorities in the "various engineering departments" or do they do too well as engineers?"

LOL...Asians are RARELY. if ever, considered 'minorities' by libs.

[jcb8199]

"Earlier this week, the College Republicans at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Conn., announced a $250 scholarship available only to white students. That scholarship requires an essay on "why you are proud of your white heritage" and a picture to "confirm whiteness." "

What they fail to mention is that they guy who STARTED this "Whites only" scholarship is PUERTO RICAN! He was miffed when he found out that the only reason he got the scholarship he was awarded was due to his skin color...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/02/15/whites.only.ap/

[Unicorn]

Sounds good to me.

[talleyman]

LOL Megabump - Kumbayah, y'all!!

[cyborg]

Ummm he knew what he was getting... please he wasn't miffed. He can also turn down scholarship money. No one forces anyone to get a scholarship.

[Texaggie79]

WHOOP!

The students at Roger Williams University are taking it too far IMO

[cyborg]

I agree

bump

[jcb8199]

The backstory (as I understand it), is that he got the scholarship, and found out later that there were several white students more qualified than he, but he got the scholarship for the fact that he is a minority.

I would be miffed, too. I will do some more digging, however, for clarification...

[jcb8199]

Pardon, it was a "minority only" scholarship.

He saw the hypocrisy in offering scholarships based on race, and is parodying it by offering a "whites only" scholarship.

[cyborg]

Ah I think I know what happened. My sister was told by a guidance counselor to check off as many ethnic groups as she can because when you get accepted to a school, they draw up a financial aid package based upon whatever you put on your app. I'm sure that his grade point average automatically put him in for a scholarship. However if the scholarship was for puertoricans how does that affect white students? What annoyed was the whole picture thing. No ethnic scholarship that I've ever seen asked for a pic.