The Observer, December 1, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 12
Outside the circle
Ivy League schools revisit past transgressions
Elite universities have started to page through their own histories to find and report dark spots from their pasts. The trend started after Brown University released its October report and revealed their past ties to slavery. Owning up to past connections to institutions like slavery and Nazi Germany is being seen as a new model of social responsibility.
Graduate students at Yale have been researching the institutions ties to slavery and found that many of the residential colleges had been named after slave owners. Harvard has found pro and anti-slavery ties. Princeton favored Southern applicants before desegregation, but has found no connection to slavery.
Brown's investigation led to the issue of a 107-page report outlining Brown's involvement in slavery and offering suggestions for the present, such as creating memorials, rewriting the history of Brown, establishing a center for slavery study, recruiting more minorities, and improving public schools. Brown is not alone in this effort to recognize what has happened in the past.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a virtual museum with photographs and short descriptions. Included in the museum is a listing of student fees from 1830 that includes a "two-dollar charge paid for slaves hired as college servants." The short history goes on to say that "students, faculty, and trustees also owned slaves, but after 1845, the trustees forbade students to bring their own slaves to campus." Also in the museum is a photograph of Thomas Ruffin, a trustee who served on the North Carolina Supreme Court and banned the prosecution of masters for mistreating their slaves by stating that "the power of the master must be absolute to render the submission of the slave perfect."
Other universities are expected to follow the trend and work to uncover hidden histories. So far, no other schools have put forth a commission to investigate the issue like Brown has done. It is expected that the Ivy League schools will be the first to start large-scale efforts but that many universities will follow suit.
Boston University students can apply for whites-only scholarship
Boston University's College Republicans are sponsoring a $250 scholarship that is available only to Caucasians. Called the "Caucasian Achievement and Recognition Scholarship," students must be at least one-fourth Caucasian. Applicants must submit an essay about their ancestry and one about "what it means to you to be a Caucasian-American today." The group says that the idea behind the scholarship is to increase awareness about racial preferences.
"We know it's ridiculous, but we think it's ridiculous in the same way to give out a Hispanic scholarship or a scholarship based on race in any way shape or form," said BUCR member Joe Mroszczyk, "To give out scholarships based on economic need is one thing, but to base it on race and race alone when they're coming from the same places where the white folks are, I don't think that provides any diversity at all."
So far, no students have applied for the scholarship, but there has been a lot of talk about it. The student body is split as to how they feel about the scholarship. "As a BU student I would probably be 100 percent against the scholarship even though I'm 100 percent Caucasian," said junior Jackie Ward.
"There are a lot of different scholarships for one race only, so I think it's a good idea," said junior Ashley Banks.
The scholarship is in no part funded or supported by Boston University.
Demands of Black Student Initiative met with hostility, tension
Students at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis are protesting the demands of the Black Student Initiative. The group wrote a letter to the administration, citing demands and giving a timeline for the demands to be met. If there was no progress by the time that the group set, then legal action would be taken.
The letter, written by Domenic Dorsey, states, "The campus reflects a false sense of diversity, respect, and support for its black student population." The group demanded close to $80,000 in funding for black student organizations.
One of the largest protests against the demands is being waged on Facebook. There is a group called "IUPUI, We Want Our Money Back!!" which has more than 900 members. While many members recognize the cultural diversity problem, they take issue with how the Black Student Initiative went about confronting the problem. They are also concerned about the amount of money demanded and worry that other groups will suffer. The university's proposition to build a multi-cultural center is also a concern, because the campus is largely commuter-based and students believe that only a few students would benefit from the center.
Areeba Frooqi, a student who created the group wrote, "We will not let our (or our family and friends') hard-earned tuition money and student activity fees go towards one organization. We will not promote further segregation at our school and we cannot stand by and let this happen."
