Staff Editorial: The right thing to do

Four years ago, Congress passed the Higher Education Act. Among its many provisions was a particularly ill-conceived and discriminatory one making students who have been convicted of any drug crime ineligible for federal financial aid for varying lengths of time.

Last week, Yale University made the courageous and wise move of sidestepping this part of the law by becoming the fourth college in the nation to promise those students denied aid under it a full reimbursement at its own expense.

For that, we commend and applaud Yale, its administrators and the students that fought for the new policy, and we urge Penn to adopt a similar plan.

The formula devised by the federal government makes those students with one conviction for possession ineligible for financial aid for one year, and those convicted of possession twice or once for selling ineligible for two years. Those with more convictions may be ineligible for life, though there are "acceptable" drug rehabilitation programs that may change you status.

Yale's is an eminently sensible solution to the many problems posed by the "drug-free" clause. For one, it ensures that those students who cannot otherwise afford a Yale education will not be denied one, in the same way that those more fortunate students who can afford it are not affected by lack of federal financial aid eligibility.

Yale will also require those students utilizing its program to enroll in drug rehabilitation, taking the position that it is better to try to help a student than to force them out of college. The university will not assist those convicted of selling drugs.

And according to Justice Department statistics, African-Americans are five times as likely to be convicted of drug possession though they are no more likely to be drug users than any other racial group. It stands to reason, then, that black students are far morelikely to be affected by the law.

Yale's position is even more impressive when one considers that it was taken more or less on principle -- no Yale student has ever been denied aid under the law. It is an acknowledgment that the law is unjust and unfair, and sends a message to lawmakers that it should be repealed.

Penn, even if it too has not had a student affected by the "drug-free," should immediately follow Yale's lead. And students and student leaders should take a cue from their counterparts at Yale and give this issue the attention that it deserves.

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