Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for November 12, 2005 FEDS AFTER SIU-C

...for discrimination against white folks!

From today's Southern Illinoisan...

U.S. officials tell SIU to stop 3 fellowship programs

BY CALEB HALE
THE SOUTHERN

CARBONDALE - Federal officials have told Southern Illinois University Carbondale to get rid of three fellowship programs by next week, or they'll file a lawsuit against the school for being anti-white among other things.

A letter from the United States Justice Department given to the university this week states SIU "has engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against whites, non-preferred minorities and males." The justice department cited three separate graduate fellowships - one of which is federally funded - as examples of its allegations.

Programs in question include Proactive Recruitment and Multicultural Professionals for Tomorrow, which promotes advanced degrees for minorities, and the Graduate Dean's fellowship, aimed at women. Both programs started in 2000 and have helped more than 100 students since their inceptions.

The third fellowship, Bridge to the Doctorate, was started by the National Science Foundation last year with annual funds of $985,000. NSF is a federal program. Officials at the agency could not be reached for comment because of the holiday Friday.

SIUC Chancellor Walter Wendler said he doesn't understand why the federal government is threatening litigation against the program supported by itself. Then again, he added, he isn't quite sure how any of the programs are seen as discriminatory.

"What we want to do is ask for more time to understand the full implications of what (the justice department) wants," Wendler said.

The chancellor noted next Friday is a "very quick turn-around" on programs that are currently helping some students pursue advanced degrees.

Asked how the sudden elimination of the fellowships might affect students receiving them, Wendler said this:

"I'd have to speculate in order to answer it, so I won't."

Federal officials have been investigating SIUC for months, specifically looking for possible discriminatory practices at the request of the Center for Equal Opportunity, an anti-affirmative-action group that reportedly honed in on programs at SIUC and one other major university in recent months.

However, Roger Clegg, a vice president for the group, told The Southern Illinoisan in an interview earlier this year he was turned on to the investigation from complaints among those working at SIUC.

Wendler said the federal government is constantly reviewing university programs, so he has no way of knowing how this particular incident came to light.

"I'm not sure where (complaints) originated from," Wendler said. "I don't know how these guys uncovered this, but obviously that's what has happened and we're going to work to address the concerns they have."

Wendler noted he remains committed to SIUC promoting diversity in its programs as much as possible.

University legal advisers will be reviewing the justice department's request next week.

And, from the Chicago Tribune...

Justice Department threatens to sue over fellowships for minorities, women

By Jodi S. Cohen
Tribune staff reporter

The U.S. Justice Department has threatened to file a lawsuit next week against Southern Illinois University unless the college opens up three paid fellowship programs once reserved exclusively for minority and female students.

The government says it will file the lawsuit because the fellowships discriminate against "whites, nonpreferred minorities and males," according to a letter dated Nov. 4. Federal officials say the graduate student programs, which include monetary stipends, violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which bars employment discrimination.

In its reply, the university has asked for more time to "consider appropriate modifications" and to provide the Justice Department with information about the programs, a spokeswoman for Carbondale-based SIU said.

"We have no reason to believe that these programs are discriminatory," said SIU spokeswoman Sue Davis. "They have successfully expanded the depth and breadth of diversity in many professions and many disciplines for people serving Illinois citizens."

The threatened lawsuit comes more than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court said universities can consider race in college admissions decisions but only among other factors and that each applicant must be evaluated individually.

If the government does file suit, it would be the first to legally challenge race-specific outreach programs at colleges and universities, said Sheldon Steinbach, general counsel for the American Council on Education, a Washington, D.C.-based organization representing 1,800 college and university administrators.

Though the Supreme Court decision was widely regarded as a win for universities that wanted to keep affirmative action policies, since then, schools throughout the country have opened up minority scholarships, fellowships, academic support programs and summer enrichment classes to students of any race.

College officials, fearing lawsuits, have generally interpreted the court ruling to mean that they can no longer offer race-exclusive programs designed specifically to help minority students, Steinbach said.

A Northwestern University summer program, for example, was opened to all students last summer. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a program for minority engineering students that provided internships, scholarships and tutoring was renamed and broadened to include non-minority students.

Universities, however, have been reluctant to change fellowships and other programs tied to financial aid that could make a difference in where a student chooses to attend.

"Are there schools out there who are still retaining race-specific scholarships? There probably are. But the mainstream of schools have amended their programs to make them race-neutral," Steinbach said.