Annandale, Va.
The latest assault on the higher education establishment's affirmative action programs is over an obscure, $500 private scholarship for minority students at a community college in Northern Virginia.
The small amount of the scholarship belies what some national experts believe could become a billion-dollar rout with far-reaching consequences for minority students all across the country. Because they enroll many minority students, community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) stand to lose the most.
The case trails a string of well-publicized controversies from California and Texas reversing everything from minority admissions and student outreach programs to financial aid and faculty hiring. But this challenge is unprecedented not only because it originated at a community college but because it delves into the murky matter of private, not public funds.
"Everyone is very antsy about this," says Everett V. Eberhardt, the coordinator of affirmative action, minority and legal affairs at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), "because of the precedent it could set.
"The question is: If you can challenge this scholarship program, if it's illegal to administer these private funds, then the next step is to challenge funds like the United Negro College Fund and others who give money to Black colleges," he said.
Complainant Never Applied
The controversy got its start last May when Christopher Thompson, a political science student at NOVA, filed a complaint with the U.S. Education Department which contended that the community college's officials were breaking the law by barring white students from applying for the Leslie V. Forte Scholarship.
The award, named after the college's first Black English professor, gives $500 a semester to up to five minority students to encourage them to be active in campus life.
"The students who receive these scholarships are symbols for our college. We think they make great role models for other students," said Eberhardt. "It encourages students to be successful while they're here, to get involved. Statistics show students are more likely to be successful if they are connected to a college."
