Huntington News

Issue date: 5/9/07 Section: Editorial

The Ujima Scholars program recruits freshmen with academic potential, but who do not meet the traditional criteria for admission to Northeastern. It ceased to be an affirmative action program this year in order to avoid becoming the target of an anti-affirmative action lawsuit, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

But the Northeastern Patriot, a conservative, student-run publication, pounced on the announcement that the program would reduce the number of students who are admitted, using this as a jumping point for creating disjointed conservative propaganda.

The Patriot's argument is incoherent. Their article, "Scholarship Raises Equality Issues," expresses two conflicting, negative voices.

First, it insinuated that the program plays favorites with students - that Ujima offers students unfair advantages and this gives them an edge over the competition. Second, the newspaper cites an unnamed source who claims the scholarship bearers "take advantage of it and let the other students down." By offering skewed perceptions to its readers, The Patriot's staff is threatening the integrity of students enrolled in the program.

Accompanied by an editorial piece, "Ujima Scholarship Program Unraveled," the program is demonized for taking on students whom the writer speculated are performing poorly in class.

Why then would Northeastern admit students whom administrators believe are destined to fail? Perhaps the ink and paper of The Patriot is a sign of racial prejudice.

On the other hand, it could be sheer miscalculation in their effort to fulfill the stereotypical conservative credo. What's next, taking a stand against birth control?

There is no need to make public the private grades and test scores of a small amount of students in order to appease The Patriot, which would only provide further insult at students enrolled in the program.

Furthermore, The Patriot needs to get its facts straight before it is forced to take a long walk down libel lane. The article stated that "many" Ujima scholarships provide full tuition. In fact, none do. Ujima scholarships are $12,500 per academic semester. And the "free tutoring, personal and career counseling, cultural and educational activities and access to a special library collection of materials on Africans in the Diaspora" are available to all Northeastern students, not just those with Ujima scholarships.

Similar instances of racial contention sparked by conservatives on campus have occurred recently. College Republicans at Boston University carelessly created a Caucasian scholarship in November as an exercise in equivalence without providing any other reason for its creation. At Tufts University, a conservative, student-run publication, The Primary Source, printed a mock Christmas carol in December called "O Come All Ye Black Folk."

Attempts to degrade people are just not nice.

Nevertheless, any attempt to censor The Patriot is wrong. A free college press is not only central to the exchange of ideas inherent in a liberal arts education, but is also strongly supported by decades of case law and policy decisions at the local, state and national levels. A college campus should be a place for open discussion where various opinions are represented and assumptions challenged.

This discussion should, however, take place in a way that is respectful to all parties.

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