Less is More: Academic Scholarships are Promoting Racial Mediocrity and Perpetuating a Culture of Victim-hood

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by Victor Padilla

The diversity of academic scholarship ensures the diversity of a student body. Scholarships for sports excellence, community service and academic merit allow for a rich pool of talent. While these endowments are meant to level out the playing for all, minority, female and hardship-facing students have access to many scholarships that reap higher dollar amounts in exchange for lower (or no) grade point averages .

Such racial coddling and rewarding of hardships only serve as a detriment to women and minorities. By showing students that less is more, we’re encouraging sub-par academic performances among ethnic groups and perpetuating a culture of victim-hood.

The gap between hard work, pay off and its correlation to race is evident in the scholarships offered by my college. The awards allotted to minorities and women under the “special criteria” category substantially out pay the “general academic merit” awards that require higher GPAs.

One example is the scholarship endowed by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. The scholarship awards $500 to a minority female student with a 2.5 GPA. Coincidently (or not), the Grant Campus Longevity scholarship awards only $100 to any students bearing a 3.6 GPA. Less is more.

Another example is that of the Mena Ramirez Memorial scholarship which awards $1,000 to a Latina woman (double whammy here) and requires no minimum grade point average. Conversely, the Vincent O’Leary Scholarship awards a comparatively low-ball $350 to any student carrying a 3.7 GPA. Less is much, much more.

Single mothers are also lauded for low performances. The Jeannette Weiner Memorial shells out $500 to a “single, divorced or legally separated, female parent with dependent child/children” with a 2.8 GPA. There are no scholarships bestowed specifically to well-to-do, non-deadbeat, child support-paying fathers. Less, less.

Then there are scholarships that clearly reward victim-hood over heroism. The Liz Bowlay scholarship gives $500 to a cancer survivor with no GPA required. In stark contrast, the John Vigiano Memorial scholarship awards $200 to FDNY firefighters EMTs, police officers and combat veterans – who still have to maintain a respectable 3.25 GPA. Cancer survivors deserve support and compassion, but does illness really rank over serving and protecting our communities?

Although I believe that everyone innately means well, we’re actually imposing a detriment to social progress. By coddling to minorities, women and those with hardships, we’re suspending them in perceptions and mentalities of victim-hood. We’re saying, “What poor little blacks and broads. Have ye pity on them”. In this way, the effort to stop victimization overcompensates itself repeatedly and ends up victimizing them even more.

Understandably, the amounts of these awards are totally up to the donors’ discretion. More responsibility must be taken, however, in making sure that the award amounts are relative to the sizes and merits of other scholarships. This will encourage all students to do better, reduce perceptions of racial coddling, and help break the cycle of victim-hood.

While the scholarships offered at my school don’t represent what happens at every school (and surely there are scholarships for minorities and women that are more academically competitive), they’re definitely indicative of what goes on in our culture.

By not holding minority and female students to the same standards, we’re telling them that it’s OK to underachieve. By setting such a low bar, we’re insulting and telling them that we don’t expect them to do better. We’re perpetuating scholastic lagging and paying them more for it. We’re teaching them that less is more.

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