Craig Cohen: Challenging the status quo on minority scholarships

Jason Mattera seems like your typical college student. He's a 20-year-old junior from the Bronx who attends Roger Williams University. A journalism major who runs a monthly periodical, Mattera is also president of his school's College Republicans -- a group which he founded. He is of Puerto Rican descent and qualified for two separate scholarships -- one worth $5,000 from the Hispanic College Fund, as well as an annual $8,000 one from the school.

Yet he plays down the role that his race played in getting these two scholarships, preferring to focus on his academic achievement -- he has a 3.9 GPA -- instead of his heritage. So what's so wild and crazy about Jason? In a recent protest against affirmative action, Jason has started a new scholarship that's quite unique.

It appears harmless at first. Like others, the scholarship asks for the applicant's name, GPA, class, etc. But it's the essay and qualifications that drew the ire of the Roger Williams community. It's also likely to start a firestorm elsewhere. In 100 words or less, all applicants are required to answer the following question: "Write why you are proud of your white heritage, and explain what being white means to you." The White Scholarship Award, a $50 grant, is awarded solely to students of "non-color." A picture is required to confirm "whiteness," and the scholarship notes that evidence of bleaching will disqualify applicants.

Now I know what you're thinking. You are angered, shocked and appalled as to how someone could be so ignorant. Did you read that correctly? Is he really sponsoring a scholarship just for whites, even though he himself is not eligible for it? Mattera justifies his actions by saying, "White kids are at a handicap. Handing out scholarships based on someone's color is absurd." While it seems easy to be shocked by this, the startling realization is that Mattera should not be chastised for his actions, but praised.

The idea of giving a scholarship to just whites simply for being white is, on face, blatantly offensive and patently outrageous. But that's just the point. Mattera intends for the scholarship to be everything that people loathe about it. By provoking outrage, he intends to show just how ridiculous a double standard we hold when it comes to race and how affirmative action is unfair, regardless of one's skin color.

Clearly, Jason did not propose this idea to help rich white kids by giving them an extra $50. He did it to expose what he believes to be the hypocrisy of affirmative action. Why is it fair to bestow benefits upon groups simply because of the color of their skin when white kids could be just as needy, if not more so? Why is it fair to single out a specific group at the expense of another? Is not justice blind?

I'd like to propose an example. Let's say Jason wanted to create a scholarship solely for a specific minority group. Would anyone care? Would anyone bother to write about it? Absolutely not. Yet by doing the exact opposite of what is an accepted social norm, Mattera has inspired exactly the type of controversy he set out to achieve.

The fact that people are talking about this scholarship gives Mattera a victory of sorts. RWU Political Science professor and adviser to both the College Democrats and College Republicans June Speakman noted that although she considers Jason's group "excessively provocative, once the turmoil dies down, [RWU] will probably be a more active and inquisitive campus." Outside the university walls, people across the country start talking about affirmative action, and the status quo is challenged.

This is exactly the point of the scholarship. Once the grant became public, he received support throughout the country (as well as countless hate-mail letters, I'm sure). The New York Times reported that a California man offered $1,000 and praised Mattera for "expos[ing] the hypocrisy of affirmative action." Another drove to Mattera's dormitory to personally deliver a check of $200 in support of the idea. Dozens more have pledged various donations.

Whether you support affirmative action or not is wholly irrelevant. At the point where you dismiss Jason's scholarship as racist or ignorant, you fail to understand his purpose. By being outlandish in exposing what he believes to be a hypocritical double standard, he dares others to act and fight for what they believe in. Is this really so evil?

Mattera's actions have been reported by countless international news media outlets. They have brought his cause to the forefront of a national debate. Sometimes it takes a bold, controversial step to encourage people to change the status quo; his scholarship does just that. For taking a new, provocatively creative stance on the issue, Mattera should earn our praise, not our scorn.Craig Cohen is a Wharton sophomore from Woodbury, N.Y. He Hate Me appears on Fridays.

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