The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

26 February 2003

Eye, meet sharp stick

It's called, yes, "The United White Persons College Fund," and Texas Tech senior Matthew Coday wants to draw a lawsuit — or at the very least, draw attention. And he sounds like he means business:

I would just dare anyone to take me to court and try to have our organization declared discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.

And what about the obvious model, the United Negro College Fund?

I would love to see organizations like the United Negro College Fund disbanded.

John Rosenberg comments:

The Fourth Circuit has held that race-exclusive scholarships are unconstitutional (Podberesky v. Kirwan, 38 F.3d 147 (4th Cir. 1994), cert. denied 115 S. Ct. 2001 (1995)), at least at public institutions. Private organizations such as the United Negro College Fund and the Bill Gates Foundation are allowed wider latitude to engage in discrimination, but I find it curious that, so far as I know, there have been no serious efforts to attack their tax-exempt status on the same grounds that were used to take away the tax exemption from Bob Jones University, i.e., that racial discrimination violates "public policy."

Well, we shall see how "serious" Coday is. Given the current flap over the University of Michigan's affirmative-action policy, Coday's announcement might end up sliding under the radar for a while, which would run counter to his apparent desire to jump-start a debate. Besides, a lawsuit is a terrible thing to waste.

(Originally from The Chronicle of Higher Education [requires subscription])

Posted at 3:57 PM to Political Science Fiction


Sauce for the goose?

Posted by: paul at 8:07 AM on 27 February 2003

Certainly sounds that way.

Posted by: CGHill at 10:50 AM on 27 February 2003

Quoted w/out permission from MISTERQCUE:

http://www.homerecording.com

Presently, the UNCF does not confine itself exclusively to Black folks. Its umbrella has been widened to include & not limited to just minorities of all ethnicities, but also to those(translation: White Folk) who have been handcuffed via financial limitations or other heavy burdens.

On Oct 25 2001, UNCF and it's 39 member colleges and universities announced in NYC the establishment of the UNCF Liberty Scholarship for children of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The children, REGARDLESS OF AGE, RACE, CREED OR COLOR WILL BE PROVIDED FULL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FULL ENROLLMENT IN ANY OF IT'S MEMBER COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES.

Sauce that.

Posted by: Cherry Root at 3:15 AM on 20 February 2004