Michigan Proposal 2 Battle Threatens Scholarships
Affirmative action ban collides with wishes of some scholarship donors.
By Natalie Y. Moore
Now that Michigan voters have axed affirmation action programs in public institutions, attention is beginning to shift toward a new higher education battleground — scholarships.
Under Proposal 2, which passed in November, scholarships that make distinctions based on race, gender, ethnicity or national origin are at risk. This includes privately created scholarships that are distributed by public colleges and universities. For the most part, higher education officials are taking a wait-and-see approach. But they are also thinking of other ways to reward students financially and hoping that contributors don’t write their checks elsewhere in the meantime.
“In Michigan, we don’t have a Northwestern, Duke or Stanford situation. We are, by and large, a public university state. We are very concerned that students will leave the state. Where will our best students of color go?” asks David Waymire, the former spokesman for One United Michigan, which opposed the anti-affirmative action ballot initiative.
Often, scholarships reflect the personality of the donor. A Jewish engineer or a Black female, for example, may want to bequeath a scholarship to other members of their communities. Under Proposal 2, such specific criteria are now illegal in Michigan if a public college or university is involved. Affirmative action proponents have argued that scholarships help diversify a student body and allow donors to give money with the expectation that certain goals will be met. School fund-raisers also worry that accepting gifts on conditions will turn off contributors.
Jim Drummond’s story helps illustrate the potential conflicts between would-be donors and the new law. A drunk driver killed his wife in 1991. Kathleen Drummond, a mother of five, had gone back to college in her 30s and graduated from the University of Michigan-Flint with a 3.9 GPA.
Jim Drummond thought the best way to honor his wife’s memory was to create a scholarship for mothers over 30 going to college. So far, between 15 and 20 scholarships, ranging from $1,000-$1,500, have been granted to academically successful mothers at Mott Community College in Flint.
