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Rudy, please remove me from your list, I have retired from the University. Quoting "Redmond, Rudy (DLEG)" <[log in to unmask]>: > http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/122165735332411 > 0.xml&coll=6 > > > > > A helping hand for minority students > > > Wednesday, September 17, 2008 > > Grand Rapids Press > > Proposal 2, the anti-affirmative action ballot initiative passed by > Michigan voters in 2006, has made it more difficult for non-white > students to get to -- and through -- public universities in the state. > > A new organization called the Imagine Fund can lessen that problem, by > legally providing scholarships to minority students with help from > private donors. The fund is a prototype of the sort of private-sector > response needed to help historically disadvantaged people get an > education, and a chance at a better life. A clear illustration of the > problem facing minorities can be found in enrollment figures for this > year's freshman class at Grand Valley State University. The number of > black, Asian, American Indian and Latino students coming into the school > dropped by 30 percent over last year's enrollment. These incoming > freshman are the first to feel the effects of Proposal 2, which banned > consideration of gender and race in public contracting, public > employment and public education. Enrollment numbers for other state > universities aren't yet available. > > In addition to ending affirmative action for purposes of admissions, > Proposal 2 did away with race- and gender-based scholarships that are > publicly funded. GVSU has such a fund, the Bert Price Awards > scholarships, that provided full rides for academically qualified > minority students. In 2006, $5.7 million from the fund was awarded to > 825 students. Beginning this year, the scholarships must come to an end, > though current scholarship recipients will receive the money until they > complete their education. The money will be funneled into new > scholarships tied to where people live and their incomes, instead of > race. > > > > The decline in minority freshman enrollment at GVSU no doubt has many > causes, including fierce competition from other schools. However, the > new limits placed on minority scholarships has certainly fed the > drop-off, as students and their families struggle to pay fast-rising > college bills. The climbing college costs conspire against minorities in > particular, who as a group come from less financially-well off > backgrounds. > > The Imagine Fund was established last year to address the reality that > people of color will find it more difficult to get through college now > that schools are prohibited from offering them financial help based on > race. Set up as an independent non-profit, the fund can legally consider > race, gender and other factors in handing out awards. The organization > expects to begin offering scholarships in the 2009 school year. > > The group, which has thus far collected $225,000 in donations, is > patterned after the College Success Foundation in Washington state, a > response to an anti-affirmative action initiative passed there in 1998. > Since its founding in 2000, the College Success Foundation has granted > 4,000 scholarships and has raised $300 million -- an indication of the > kind of success the Imagine Fund could have with the right leadership > and support. > > The support should come first of all from businesses and foundations > that favor additional help for minorities and other historically > disadvantaged groups. Many business groups fought Proposal 2, and lost. > > Not lost, however, is the opportunity to help young people succeed. The > law has put an end to some of those efforts in public institutions. That > makes it all the more imperative that private donors pick up the slack. > > > > > > > >