November 21, 2006

College Republicans Offer $250 Scholarship for White Students at Boston U.

The College Republicans at Boston University are offering a $250 scholarship for BU students who exemplify “Caucasian Achievement and Recognition,” according to The Daily Free Press, a student newspaper at the university. The purpose of the stunt is to “trigger a discussion on what we believe to be the morally wrong practice of basing decisions in our schools and our jobs on racial preferences rather than merit,” the scholarship application says. A similar stunt was tried three years ago at Texas Tech University, where a student announced he was offering a $2,000 scholarship for white students from the “United White Persons College Fund.”

Comments

1. At Tennessee State University, they offer a Caucasian scholarship as well. This scholarship is called, A Minority Scholarship. It is suppose to boost the “white” population for this University. Go to their web site and see for yourselves. I was shocked. I thought that the meaning behind minority was to serve another purpose in our country, but now, if other predominantly “black” colleges need white people to attend, maybe we should do away with the concept of “minority” altogether. Seems to me like that particular concept is no longer needed.

   — Shannon Lynch    Nov 22, 08:28 AM    #

2. Why do you refer to this as a “stunt”? Are scholarships for black people also refered to as “stunts”?

   — Victor Irby    Nov 22, 08:39 AM    #

3. It is called a stunt because its stated purpose is “‘to trigger a discussion’” about race, merit, and morality, rather than to improve the educational opportunities of the students it targets. If the BU College Republicans’ scholarship offer instigates a conversation that considers the immorality of conflating structurally perpetuated white privilege with individual merit, it will perhaps have been a worthwhile endeavor.

   — Evie Shockley    Nov 22, 12:31 PM    #

4. Stunt or no stunt, if anyone reads this story, the BUCR will have accomplished their goal: A Long overdue and often taboo conversation on racism. Scholarships that advocate one race over another are racist. You cannot embrace other cultures if you don’t recognize your differences, but offering tangible preference of one culture over another does not add diversity to a University, it adds racism.

   — Joe Hinrichs    Nov 23, 03:34 AM    #

5. Special setasides and schlorships for African Americans is really a small portion of what is owed for several hundred years of free laboir and lost identy. are white people suffering from the same type of injustice? Educate people, tell them the real reasons for so called minority programs!

   — Joseph Sanders    Nov 23, 08:49 AM    #

6. Scholarships are given for just about anything. Why is it wrong to have a scholarship for whites? It’s okay for any other race to receive one with no big ado thrown up.

   — Henry    Nov 24, 07:52 AM    #

7. I know racism when I see it. I am a
   Republican too even though I am a Mexican American. The letters to this forum
   show the racists that respond to this cheap tactic. This is not about liberalism, this is about racist whites. The vulgar answers here prove what scum we are
   dealing with here. No one denies you scholarships because you are white. They
   denied you because you were not white.
   Stop telling your racist lies.
   You are racists. You can
   keep your damn $250.00, and go to hell.

   — Paul Jaramillo    Nov 25, 06:08 PM    #

8. I am a white American that is of Slavic decent. Take a close look at the first four letters of Slavic, same as the first four letters in slave. Do you know why this is? Because the Slavs were enslaved for years and years and that’s were the word comes from. I am only 3rd generation in this country. For someone to say to me that I owe anyone for slavery is complete BS. And I do not look for reparations for what my ancestors went through. I come from a lower income family and found ways to put myself through school. It was called the military and it was free. I worked my ass off to get what I have. And I don’t owe anyone Jack and nobody owes me. Slavery has not existed in this country for many years. Nobody alive in this country now has ever been a slave. Go to school get an education. Get a job contribute to society, save your money instead of buying dubs for your ride. Stop trying to impress everyone around you with how bad ass your car stereo system is. Life is not always easy for everyone, but with a little self sacrifice and determination you can accomplish anything, I’m living proof.

   — Dave H    Nov 27, 09:49 AM    #

9. “Stop trying to impress everyone around you with how bad ass your car stereo system is.”

   ^Despite your ethnic background, comments like this may lead one to believe that you’re ignorant and are incapable of emphatically expressing yours views on sensitive subject matter without coming across as an idiot.

   What exactly is the basis of this comment and why did you feel compelled to include this statement in a discussion about racial preferences in relation to academics? Not that it matters but, for entertainment purposes could you please elaborate how this is even slightly relevant?

   — R. Carter    Nov 29, 05:28 PM    #

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