White student returns scholarship intended for black students

[Mr Spinkles]

Is this what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned?

When a student who won a scholarship for African-American students walked to the stage at a Riverside, Calif., high school to pick up his award, the audience laughed nervously. The student, Jeffrey Warren, was white.
Warren, 17, a recent graduate of Riverside's King High School, won a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Riverside's Martin Luther King Senior Citizens Club. While a cover letter to guidance counselors indicated that the award was intended only for black students, the application merely "encourage[d] African-American students to apply," according to King High School Principal Darel Hansen.

The morning after the ceremony, Warren returned the money. Since then, his story has made national headlines.

Warren's father Rod, a language arts teacher at King High School, said he told his son to apply for every scholarship for which he might be eligible. Since the application did not explicitly rule out non-black applicants, the soon-to-be San Diego State freshman gave it a shot. Out of the 27 scholarships for which he applied, he won four, including the one he later gave up.

"The laughter was slight at the beginning, then it got louder," Rod Warren said. "You could tell the [award presenters] were surprised, but they shook his hand and gave it to him."
When the Warrens returned home from the ceremony, they concluded that returning the money was the right thing to do.

Etta Brown, the chairwoman of the MLK Senior Citizens Club's scholarships committee, said she was shocked when she realized the winner of her group's scholarship was a white student. Since the scholarship was created in 2005, it had never been awarded to a non-black student.

Warren's decision to return the award was "generous," she said. Since the application did not explicitly disqualify non-black students, she said the group would not have asked Warren to give it back, despite some internal debate.

In the future, the application will be worded more clearly, she said.

Rod Warren said his son reasoned that if he were ineligible for the scholarship, the issue would be resolved at the interview stage of the application process. The interview, however, was over the phone, and Brown said it never occurred to the reader who interviewed Warren that the interviewee might be white.

After news of Jeffrey's decision to decline the scholarship spread, Susan Jaggers, his former math teacher, launched a campaign to compensate him for the sacrifice. Circulating a framed picture of Warren to all the teachers whose classes he took at King High School, Jaggers has so far yielded $351.

"We didn't totally replace the money, but I knew many of [Warren's former teachers] would be willing to throw a few bones," Jaggers said. "All his teachers love him."

Warren's scholarship has been given to an African-American student who will be attending Cornell University in the fall. The second of the scholarship's two winners is a North High School student who will be attending Xavier University.

http://news.yahoo.com/white-high-sc...-students-223410181--abc-news-topstories.html

 

[Kathryn]

There are all types of scholarships for all sorts of special interest groups.

It seems that the student returned the scholarship voluntarily, which is a good thing.

Odd little story.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

There are all types of scholarships for all sorts of special interest groups.

Is skin color a valid "interest group"? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for integration and even affirmative action to a reasonable extent .... I thought I was rather liberal, and yet I'm really having trouble wrapping my head around why it's okay, in the year 2012, to make skin color an eligibility requirement for a scholarship. Do they use color swatches during the interview?

I would have no problem if the scholarship was based on need and merit, or if the student must demonstrate an interest in black history or Martin Luther King, etc., and the candidates just happen to be mostly black as a result .... but some of the scholarship benefactors actually wanted to ask the student to give back the money! Even after a phone interview! That seems like "racism" but one is so unaccustomed to this sort of "racism" that it just comes off as bizarre and awkward.

 

[Kathryn]

Is skin color a valid "interest group"? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for integration and even affirmative action to a reasonable extent .... I thought I was rather liberal, and yet I'm really having trouble wrapping my head around why it's okay, in the year 2012, to make skin color an eligibility requirement for a scholarship. Do they use color swatches during the interview?

I would have no problem if the scholarship was based on need and merit, or if the student must demonstrate an interest in black history or Martin Luther King, etc., and the candidates just happen to be mostly black as a result .... but some of the scholarship benefactors actually wanted to ask the student to give back the money! Even after a phone interview! That seems like "racism" but one is so unaccustomed to this sort of "racism" that it just comes off as bizarre and awkward.

I think it's OK. For instance, my husband and I are starting a scholarship fund up. It is only going to be for children who have no father figure in their lives (or mother figure). We are coordinating with the Big Brother/Big Sister program.

I am sure there are many disadvantaged kids that could use the money - but we're not going to give it to anyone who does not meet our specific criteria, no matter how pressing the need or how compelling their personal story is.

I would be FURIOUS if I found out after giving a scholarship to a student, that they were not actually from a broken home - no matter how pressing their need was.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I think it's OK. For instance, my husband and I are starting a scholarship fund up. It is only going to be for children who have no father figure in their lives (or mother figure). We are coordinating with the Big Brother/Big Sister program.

I am sure there are many disadvantaged kids that could use the money - but we're not going to give it to anyone who does not meet our specific criteria, no matter how pressing the need or how compelling their personal story is.

I would be FURIOUS if I found out after giving a scholarship to a student, that they were not actually from a broken home - no matter how pressing their need was.

It makes sense to want to provide scholarships for kids from broken homes. But kids of a particular skin color? In the year 2012? The white kid was from the same high school as the black kids, and he was selected based on his application and his phone interview. He was essentially forced to give back the scholarship money solely based on skin pigmentation alone. Isn't that rather embarrassing and, therefore, doesn't reductio ad absurdum apply?

 

[Kathryn]

It makes sense to want to provide scholarships for kids from broken homes. But kids of a particular skin color? In the year 2012? The white kid was from the same high school as the black kids, and he was selected based on his application and his phone interview. He was essentially forced to give back the scholarship money solely based on skin pigmentation alone. Isn't that rather embarrassing and, therefore, doesn't reductio ad absurdum apply?

No, I don't think so.

There are scholarships for mothers, for example. What about a woman who REALLY NEEDED that money, but implied that she was a mother, when in fact she wasn't?

There are scholarships for children who are TERMINALLY ILL. Now - not to be cruel, but maybe someone who's going to actually put that education to work might need that money - desperately in fact. Would it be OK for them to exaggerate an illness in order to get the scholarship?

There are scholarships for students of particular religions. Are those scholarships discriminatory?

There are scholarships for gay students - are those discriminatory?

 

[Chisti]

It makes sense to want to provide scholarships for kids from broken homes. But kids of a particular skin color? In the year 2012? The white kid was from the same high school as the black kids, and he was selected based on his application and his phone interview. He was essentially forced to give back the scholarship money solely based on skin pigmentation alone. Isn't that rather embarrassing and, therefore, doesn't reductio ad absurdum apply?

Class and race dynamics are interlinked. And yes, this is 2012.

 

[nnmartin]

He should have kept the money!

Too PC in my book.

 

[blackout]

I think it's OK. For instance, my husband and I are starting a scholarship fund up. It is only going to be for children who have no father figure in their lives (or mother figure). We are coordinating with the Big Brother/Big Sister program.

I am sure there are many disadvantaged kids that could use the money - but we're not going to give it to anyone who does not meet our specific criteria, no matter how pressing the need or how compelling their personal story is.

I would be FURIOUS if I found out after giving a scholarship to a student, that they were not actually from a broken home - no matter how pressing their need was.

Out of curiousity Kathryn, would you mind outlining the specific criteria for your scholarship?

What exactly constitutes a broken home?

How does one evaluate if a child has or has no mother figure,
or father figure in their life?

 

[jarofthoughts]

Education should be freely avaliable to anyone who wants it and is willing to do the work.
In Norway even university level education is open to anyone, including forreigners, with no tuition fees.

 

[nnmartin]

UV:

who's to say being raised by a single parent is a bad thing anyway?

it could well give you more resiliance and independence in later life.

 

[blackout]

UV:

who's to say being raised by a single parent is a bad thing anyway?

it could well give you more resiliance and independence in later life.

I was thinking more along the lines of family existing in many forms other than the two parent nuclear one woman=mother figure, one man=father figure model.

'Broken'/'Dis'functional' families and 'Whole'/'Working'/'Functional' families
do not come in any kinds of 'Set Packages'.

Disfunctional individuals (adult family members and guardians) and lack of economic support are usually the actual problems,
(for a young person attempting to build a prosperous future)
as opposed to other more superficial specifics.

It can certainly be far WORSE in a two parent home
(for everyone)
where the two parents are always hurting and breaking one another,
than in the kind of 'broken home' where there is
peace on account of the split.

Also, the whole 'mother figure' 'father figure' thing.
It raises many questions about figures, and models both.
(from extended family to two parent gay and lesbian homes)

 

[Caladan]

It makes sense to want to provide scholarships for kids from broken homes. But kids of a particular skin color? In the year 2012? The white kid was from the same high school as the black kids, and he was selected based on his application and his phone interview. He was essentially forced to give back the scholarship money solely based on skin pigmentation alone. Isn't that rather embarrassing and, therefore, doesn't reductio ad absurdum apply?

I'm surprised you're surprised Spinkels. All over the world there are scholarship programs for every possible ethnic group out there. Before starting my MA with a British university, I looked to see if there's any chance for a scholarship. I saw countless scholarships based on regions and culture. Hell I couldn't even apply for Mid eastern scholarships because I was disqualified for being Israeli.
The two scholarships I personally received I had to give a month of fieldwork for each, the scholarships were de facto a paycheck. The Jewish scholarships I saw also demanded your time and energies for various causes.

 

[Caladan]

Education should be freely avaliable to anyone who wants it and is willing to do the work.
In Norway even university level education is open to anyone, including forreigners, with no tuition fees.

What if I'm a non-EU resident who wishes to apply for a PhD in a Norwegian university, what are my prospects?
Hey maybe I can get a piece of the pie.

 

[nnmartin]

but it's racism though surely?

at a hotel I visited recently it had a sign at reception: 'No Israelis'

how about that?

 

[blackout]

If individuals want to give their money away,
they should be able to give it away to whoever they want.

I don't really see what the big deal is.

Clarity for the sake of all involved however, is a big plus.

 

[nnmartin]

how about if the application had said 'whites only' or 'heterosexuals only' - there would be one hell of a fuss then for sure!

 

[Me Myself]

how about if the application had said 'whites only' or 'heterosexuals only' - there would be one hell of a fuss then for sure!

Actually, an interesting question...

 

[Storm]

Well, I've seen plenty that were for Christians only, and no one seems to mind.

That said, the purpose of minority scholarships is to give a leg up and over the institutional discrimination that plagues us still. Whites and straights don't really need that.

 

[Kathryn]

Out of curiousity Kathryn, would you mind outlining the specific criteria for your scholarship?

What exactly constitutes a broken home?

How does one evaluate if a child has or has no mother figure,
or father figure in their life?

We will be coordinating with the Big Brother/Big Sister chapter here. Any child who qualifies to be in that program would meet the criteria for "being from a broken home."