Minority-Student Aid Will Survive, Kemp Predicts
Housing Secretary Jack Kemp predicted Sunday that the Bush Administration will find a way to preserve minority-only scholarships that are linked to students’ financial needs.
The White House and Justice Department are reviewing a controversial opinion from the Education Department’s top civil rights official that cast doubt on the legality of race-based scholarships.
Kemp, speaking on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation,” said: “Like most Americans, I don’t believe in race-based or religious-based quotas.”
But he added: “I do believe in affirmative efforts by colleges to open up opportunity to minorities and low-income people.
“It would be a mistake for the federal government to shut off federal aid to a college . . . because it’s trying to promote opportunities for minorities based on need and minority status.”
The dispute, which has upset many college administrators and civil rights groups, was triggered by an opinion circulated by Michael Williams, the assistant education secretary for civil rights, that federal law bars college scholarships predicated only on race. He warned colleges could lose their eligibility for federal aid if they gave such scholarships.
But Kemp said Williams’ interpretation of the law did not rule out scholarships based on race as well as financial need.
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