Scholarships come in a myriad of shapes and sizes. There are scholarships based on gender, ethnicity, geographic location and even height. The one demographic lacking in scholarship opportunities, according to a Texas nonprofit organization, is — believe it or not — white males.
The Former Majority Association for Equality, founded last March, is looking to fill this gap. The group takes its name from data reported by the U.S. Census stating that non−Hispanic whites now make up only 45 percent of Texas' population.
Colby Bohannan, founder and president of the organization, first came up with the idea for an ethnically based scholarship for white men when he himself was a student looking for scholarship opportunities.
"It really started back in 2002 when I was working full−time and going to school, as was my cousin," Bohannan told the Daily. "We were trying to find scholarships, and we did find a couple we could apply to. We kept coming across all these ethnically or gender−based scholarships. There were no scholarships out there racially based for our demographic."
Others, however, like sophomore Eliza Ziegler, do not share Bohannan's opinions about the necessity for exclusively white, male scholarships, given the demographic's already high presence at most universities.
"I think the point of having minority−based financial aid or minority−based scholarships is to raise attendance rates of these racial groups and ethnic groups, which are disproportionately low," she said. "Should everyone be allowed to go to college? Yeah, if they want to. If the purpose of scholarships is to help equalize, then I don't think they've accomplished that yet. Especially looking at Tufts — it's mostly white, upper−to−middle−class, privileged individuals."
Still, others feel that granting scholarships based on ethnicity alone — white or otherwise — is nonsensical.
"You give a scholarship for being poor, for being physically or mentally disabled or a merit scholarship," sophomore Ben Van Meter said. "Rewarding being white doesn't make much sense."
Bohannan is aware that he is walking a social tightrope and maintains that his reasons for founding the organization have nothing to do with white supremacy.
"We weren't naive going into this," he said. "We knew we were going to get some attacks from different people who didn't understand who we are and what we're trying to do."
While Bohannan says the feedback he has received in person has been largely positive, national media attention has been a different story.
"The feedback has been a big thing. They either love you and your idea, or they hate you and your idea. There have been TV pundits who've called me a racist to my face, and that's tough to hear," Bohannan said. "What we're trying to do has absolutely nothing to do with white supremacy or racial bigotry."
According to Van Meter, the problem with Bohannan's cause is not one of racism; it's one of senselessness.
"I don't think the scholarship itself is racist," Van Meter said. "But I don't think the people behind it are progressive. I just don't understand the justification. If you're appealing to fairness, it doesn't make any sense."
According to Bohannan, the dearth of scholarships for white males is due to the sensitivity associated with the United States' racial past.
"If you hear the term ‘white only' or ‘white man only' it brings back the embarrassing episodes of our country's past," he said. "Not only slavery and segregation — these are embarrassing atrocities. Maybe no one wanted to ruffle up any feathers. Maybe they didn't want to appear [like] they were a racist."
For Ziegler, the issues presented by Bohannan and the Former Majority Association for Equality point not to a case of racism but rather to a larger, problematic societal mindset.
"The thing that's really poignant and striking to me is the ‘us against them' mentality that pervades in our society that claims to be post−racist," she said. "It's not productive to think in that context because the point of scholarships and financial aid is to even the gap between the educated and the not educated. It's not about race or gender."
Bohannan himself echoed this point, stressing that the real minorities and majorities in the United States are not defined by their ethnicities but by their socio−economic situations.
"The true minority in this country are those who have money set aside for tuition, books, room and board," he said. "The real majority are the people who have to work to sustain themselves and borrow money and go into debt to afford an education. I think we need scholarships all across the board for every student, both genders."
While Ziegler agreed that scholarships are lacking all around, she noted that those most in need are often non−whites.
"I think a much fairer way would be to do it purely need−based. It's also true that a large percentage of those not having enough income to attend institutions of higher education are disproportionately black or Hispanic," she said. "I sort of see it like the upper−middle class. Even if we're claiming to be a post−racial and post−gender society, there's still a sense of entitlement for white men, as I see it, but it's not so limited or explicit that the thought process is ‘I'm a white man; I deserve this.'"
Currently, the Former Majority for Equality is offering five $500 scholarships for the fall 2011 semester and plans on increasing that amount to $1,000 for future semesters. While $500 is not a huge sum in the scope of educational expenses, Bohannan hopes to continually augment the scholarship over time, taking the Ron Brown Foundation, which provides African−American scholars with $40,000 of scholarship money over the course of four years, as his model.
"We've done a lot of research on other ethnically−based scholarships. My ultimate goal is to get as close to the Ron Brown Foundation as possible," Bohannan said. "I would love to be able to change the lives of 10 to 12 hard−working, low−income students — give them an opportunity to change their lives, make a difference in their community and succeed."
