A Blavity headline from yesterday reads:
Florida University Working To Prevent Students Of Color From Dropping Out
The article itself downplays the importance of race in the university’s initiative, and we’re told that:
While this educational intervention system was crafted with the college’s low-income Black and Latino students in mind, all FAU students benefit through initiatives like the university’s “flight plan” system—which roadmaps students’ semester-to-semester journey to their coveted degree.
It’s not surprising that Florida Atlantic University has trouble keeping its non-white students through graduation; near the top of its home page, the university boasts that it’s the “most diverse public university in Florida:”
If it’s worth boasting about, then it’s worth working toward and defending. How does one work toward being #1 in Diversity? By focusing on the recruitment of “Diverse” students. I know I’ve said this many times before, but I’ll say it again: Any time a priority is placed on Diversity, it must come at a cost. It’s not possible for recruiters to focus on non-white recruitment and, at the same time, hold those non-white students to the same standards as white students. The inevitable result is that more non-white students will drop out over time.
Even though the above article downplays the importance of race in this financial aid initiative, the reality is that non-white students have options that white students don’t have. From their financial aid page:
Students who are recognized through the College Board Recognition Programs (African American, Hispanic, Indigenous, or Rural and Small-Town Recognition) who are not already receiving one of the above mentioned awards, can be considered for scholarship funding upon providing documentation of this recognition to the Office of Student Financial Aid.
You might be wondering what a “recognition program” is. Here’s your answer:
Eligibility:
The College Board will contact students deemed eligible for recognition. To be
considered students must:
* Take the PSAT/NMSQT®
in October of their junior year.
* Achieve the minimum requested PSAT/NMSQT scores (qualifying level
may vary by state each year).
* Earn a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher by the middle of their junior year.
* Identify as African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Indigenous and/or attend school in a rural area or small town.
In other words, the College Board Recognition Programs exist to certify non-whites (or eligible whites) for favored status in our racial caste system. All of their requirements are attainable by everybody with an average IQ – except “identifying as non-white.” However, the recognition programs depend on self-declared ethnicity on college admission forms. A recent study showed that about a third of white candidates lie about their race on such forms – but this is not without risk.
Generally speaking, I would encourage whites and Asians to lie about their race in college admission forms. If enough people do this, it might strike a blow against the myth of white-privilege. Why would those who are “privileged” willingly identify as those who are not privileged?
It’s a sorry state of affairs when whites need to lie about their race in order to get a fair shake.
Florida Atlantic’s scholarship programs are primarily funded through tax dollars:
The Student Financial Aid Budget is comprised of funding from student financial aid fees, federal and state financial aid awards, institutional programs, and numerous private scholarships. The Student Financial Aid Budget totals $206,996,075, an increase of 1.5 percent compared to the prior year.
Florida Atlantic University is not the exception in this regard; it’s probably the norm, and I only singled it out because of the recent Blavity article.
