SCHOLARSHIPS FOR WHITE MEN ONLY- demographic is often left out when it comes to college funding.

Sam Whiskey

Is this a racial stunt or is it a real concern for White Males, who are now a minority?

Texas State students offer scholarships exclusively for white males

Group founder Colby Bohannan says his demographic is often left out when it comes to college funding.

By Patrick George

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Updated: 8:26 a.m. Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Published: 7:59 p.m. Thursday, February 24, 2011

Colby Bohannan said that when he first applied to college, his family didn't have a huge stockpile of money set aside to pay for school. He found many scholarships for women and minorities, but none aimed at people like him: white men.

"I felt excluded," said Bohannan, a Texas State University student. "If everyone else can find scholarships, why are we left out?"

So Bohannan, a mass communication major and Iraq war veteran, and others formed the Former Majority Association for Equality — a San Marcos-based nonprofit group that is offering five $500 scholarships exclusively to white male students.

Bohannan, the group's president, said the name comes from the idea that "if you're not a male, and if you're not white, you're called a minority." However, he said, "I'm not sure white males are the majority anymore."

Recent U.S. census data indicate Bohannan is right, at least in Texas, where Hispanics accounted for two-thirds of the population growth over the past decade and where non-Hispanic whites now make up about 45 percent of residents.

The 501(c)3 nonprofit was formally incorporated with the state in March. The group hasn't received any applications, Bohannan said.

A search of public records indicates Bohannan pleaded no contest to charges of theft of property of less than $500 in 2001 and of issuance of a bad check in 2003. William Lake , the group's treasurer, pleaded no contest to issuance of a bad check in 2008.

Bohannan said he was charged with theft after authorities found a county speed limit sign in his Texas State dorm room and with writing a bad check for groceries, also while in college. Lake said he was charged with writing a bad check while managing a now-defunct business he started. Both said the charges have been disposed of.

Bohannan said the group is raising money — as of Monday , the group had raised $485, according to its website — and that he hopes to award scholarships by July 4. The money can be used to go to any college, not just Texas State, Bohannan said.

Applicants need to be at least 25 percent Caucasian, have a GPA exceeding 3.0 and demonstrate financial need.

"There's a scholarship out there for just about any demographic, except this one," Lake said. "We realize it's for good reason — this is a touchy subject."

Bohannan said the nine-member volunteer board includes three women, one Hispanic and one African American.

Bohannan said that in person, he's only been met with support for his group. But online, he said, he's seen some criticism.

One opinion column that ran in the Texas State newspaper, the University Star, offered praise for evening the scholarship playing field, while another argued aid should not be given on the basis of race or ethnicity at all.

Joanne Smith , Texas State's vice president for student affairs, said the scholarship is no different from ones offered to other ethnic groups. "From the university's standpoint, we can't take issue with a scholarship offered to a certain group."

Bohannan's group isn't the first to offer scholarships only for white students. In 2006, Boston University's College Republicans created a program with similar requirements. A Republican group at a university in Rhode Island offered a similar award in 2004.

Those groups claimed the scholarships made a statement against affirmative action. Bohannan said his group is not taking any stance for or against affirmative action.

"It's time in our society to look at the way our culture views race," he said. "It's time to give everyone an equal shot."

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slimboyfat

I that legal? I don't know but I doubt you can get scholarships on the basis of race in this country.

miseryloveselders

A search of public records indicates Bohannan pleaded no contest to charges of theft of property of less than $500 in 2001 and of issuance of a bad check in 2003. William Lake , the group's treasurer, pleaded no contest to issuance of a bad check in 2008.

Bohannan said he was charged with theft after authorities found a county speed limit sign in his Texas State dorm room and with writing a bad check for groceries, also while in college. Lake said he was charged with writing a bad check while managing a now-defunct business he started. Both said the charges have been disposed of.

Cry me a river..............

ColdRedRain

You can get scholarships for being anything except for being white. Even though the guy's an obvious charlatan, he does have a point; people assume just because somebody's white, they have all sort of money and privilidge, which is often the exact opposite case. Try being a white man in family court. However, I still think he's a charlatan and he's trying to pander to white nationalists.

Band on the Run

Try being not a white man any place on this planet. Reparations is a fair concept. I am not that old and women and blacks only hit the professions in any quantity during my life. So now there are black and female lawyers and Indian chiefs where before no group could find any qualified ones to hire. There must have been something miraculous in the air the year the civil rights act was enforced. All of a sudden women and blacks appeared and held their own.

Race is a crummy criteria for a scholarship. Economic class makes much more sense. I attended college with middle class blacks wearing Neiman-Marcus clothing. The world revolved around an exclusively white male crowd for too long. Diversity is a good concept. It will takes women and minorities a long time to just equal where white men were.

Tough luck. Study harder and get a merit scholarship. Govt. funding is not race restricted. The Sup Ct has signalled race based scholarships must be very sophisticated for public schools.

ColdRedRain

Reperations isn't a fair concept because you're flooding the market with minorities who only got to where they are based on their race, not on their ability. All that'll do is sour the market on minorities because deep down inside, sellers and employers would only think they got there by virture of their race and not by their ability, and they will simply work around the rules so they wouldn't hire a minority. It's already happening as we speak. Look up Zip Code based discrimination.

Wasanelder Once

Hmmmmmmmmmm hasn't anyone ever heard of the United Negro College Fund? Who is that for, Koreans? Probably not.

ColdRedRain

I wonder if I can qualify for the UNCF and the college fund for Hindustanis since I'm mixed with both? Hey, I don't have to pay for college ever again if that's the case!

Band on the Run

I'm not going to research it but I believe the Supreme Court has held affirmative action programs with the sole criteria of race unconstituional and in violation of Equal Protection unless to remedy past proven discrimination. Proving past discrimination is easy in the South. I worked in the U.S. Senate the year the famous Bakkee decision came down. Many believed it was a cooked up case. UC at Davis had a very crude plan that was based on only race. Bakkee was at the border. Clearly, if he were white. I sat in the Library of Congress and read about forty amicus briefs. They were chock full of charts. Bakkee was an A student, very high medical boards score, worked in emergency services riding in ambulances. His work was clearly longer than just to impress a medical school. The blacks who were admitted had Ds, very low (barely what you score for writing your name correctly) and had no real world experience in medicine. His interviewer at Davis suggested he sue.

Davis was only a handful of educational institutions that used solely race as a criteria. As I said before, lack of education is class based now. People don't think white ethnics when they think of privileged white people. Fewer white ethnics males attend college than black males. Obama points out that not all white people had anything to do with slavery.

The Court merely held that Bakkee had a private cause of action under a civil rights statute that had previously been used by governments only. I can't describe how tense DC was.

Reparations does fit. I'm not the Supreme Court but why allow preferential treatment to remedy past discrimination unless it is based on reparations?

It is not an easy, solveable problem. Frankly, after reading those amicus briefs, I'm terrified by black doctors. Many black professionals reassure others that they were admitted as regular students. Affirmative action is very important to schools. It exposes all students to a wider range of thought and social concerns. The vast majority of those admitted do fine on standardized tests after a couple of years to hone their skills. My law school would do anything to get black students. Their LSATs were pitiful for the most part. The cycle appears to break. The only identification allowed on finals was a social security number. The faculty had no idea what race students were.

It is a rough form of justice. No one said it was fair (maybe a few) but society wants to atone for institutional racism. It is not fun for those left out. There are ways to benefit this group without using race as a sole criteria. It is inflammatory when there is no need for it. Economic status should work fine.

OUTLAW

.......................... ...OUTLAW

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR WHITE MEN ONLY- demographic is often left out when it comes to college funding.

Texas State students offer scholarships exclusively for white males

Group founder Colby Bohannan says his demographic is often left out when it comes to college funding.

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