White High Schooler Returns Scholarship Intended for Black Students
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.
I agreee... It should be based soley on your merit
Quoting HIJKLM:
Ya. There's also scholarships for a certain sex, religion, sexual orientation, even eye color. I don't think its right to qualify for anything you can't control. It should only be based on merit and necessity
Quoting pamelax3:
Quoting HIJKLM:
Thats sad. He shouldn't have returned it. He won fairly. I don't think race should be a factor in qualifying for a scholarship.
you are right race should have nothing to do with scholarships.. But sadly it does..
Quoting AMCMSM:Kinda sad the MLK scholarship is race based.... To bad they did not base the scholarship on the content of his character and not the color of his skin... I guess they did but, only by accident
Quoting pamelax3:I agreee... It should be based soley on your merit
Quoting HIJKLM:
Ya. There's also scholarships for a certain sex, religion, sexual orientation, even eye color. I don't think its right to qualify for anything you can't control. It should only be based on merit and necessity
Quoting pamelax3:
Quoting HIJKLM:
Thats sad. He shouldn't have returned it. He won fairly. I don't think race should be a factor in qualifying for a scholarship.
you are right race should have nothing to do with scholarships.. But sadly it does..
Yes income also needs to be a factor.. I think last month some time P.Diddy's son got a scholarship, he does not need that...
Quoting HIJKLM:
Well I'm ok with qualifying based on income too. Poor people need it more
Quoting pamelax3:
I agreee... It should be based soley on your merit
Quoting HIJKLM:
Ya. There's also scholarships for a certain sex, religion, sexual orientation, even eye color. I don't think its right to qualify for anything you can't control. It should only be based on merit and necessity
Quoting pamelax3:
Quoting HIJKLM:
Thats sad. He shouldn't have returned it. He won fairly. I don't think race should be a factor in qualifying for a scholarship.
you are right race should have nothing to do with scholarships.. But sadly it does..
SMH
Quoting pamelax3:Yes income also needs to be a factor.. I think last month some time P.Diddy's son got a scholarship, he does not need that...
Quoting HIJKLM:
Well I'm ok with qualifying based on income too. Poor people need it more
Quoting pamelax3:
I agreee... It should be based soley on your merit
Quoting HIJKLM:
Ya. There's also scholarships for a certain sex, religion, sexual orientation, even eye color. I don't think its right to qualify for anything you can't control. It should only be based on merit and necessity
Quoting pamelax3:
Quoting HIJKLM:
Thats sad. He shouldn't have returned it. He won fairly. I don't think race should be a factor in qualifying for a scholarship.
you are right race should have nothing to do with scholarships.. But sadly it does..
Quoting anxiousschk:
I am confused.
How is it "fair" for him to return the money? Those on the scholarship committee selected him purely based on qualifications, how does that make him less deserving thant the next person?
I get *why* he returned the money, and would not have faulted him for keeping it. I just don't feel that it's "fair" for him to feel pressure to return money that was awarded to him fairly.
This exactly! Everyone's saying how much character the kid has, i wouldn't say he had any lack of character for keeping it.
During one of the interviews it was kind of a joke that he received it.. In your friends case, then she should be looked at for a scholarship
Quoting HIJKLM:
I disagree there. P.Ditty is rich, his son is not. He also received scholarships based solely on merit, not income. I know a girl who's parents are very wealthy but refuse to give her anything. The parents income should not be a factor.
Quoting pamelax3:
Yes income also needs to be a factor.. I think last month some time P.Diddy's son got a scholarship, he does not need that...
Quoting HIJKLM:
Well I'm ok with qualifying based on income too. Poor people need it more
Quoting pamelax3:
I agreee... It should be based soley on your merit
Quoting HIJKLM:
Ya. There's also scholarships for a certain sex, religion, sexual orientation, even eye color. I don't think its right to qualify for anything you can't control. It should only be based on merit and necessity
Quoting pamelax3:
Quoting HIJKLM:
Thats sad. He shouldn't have returned it. He won fairly. I don't think race should be a factor in qualifying for a scholarship.
you are right race should have nothing to do with scholarships.. But sadly it does..
Quoting dustinsmom1:
Quoting anxiousschk:
I am confused.
How is it "fair" for him to return the money? Those on the scholarship committee selected him purely based on qualifications, how does that make him less deserving thant the next person?
I get *why* he returned the money, and would not have faulted him for keeping it. I just don't feel that it's "fair" for him to feel pressure to return money that was awarded to him fairly.
This exactly! Everyone's saying how much character the kid has, i wouldn't say he had any lack of character for keeping it.
I would not either...
Holder to investigate....Holder
- pamelax3
on Jun. 13, 2012 at 2:46 PM