As Long as It’s Open to All : Founding of European-American Club ignites controversy

There is no harm in breaking groups out of the student population for ethnic clubs. But in a diverse society, and on any campus, they should be open to all and bear malice toward none.

Fortunately, that’s exactly the case at Anaheim High School in Orange County, where some students have formed a group called the European-American Club. Delightfully, it’s open to students of all backgrounds. But when word of the formation of the club got out, some school officials raised their eyebrows and dyed-in-the-wool racists took pen in hand to express approval to the principal.

Club officers were quick to point out that the group is racially mixed, even if it does aspire largely to support white students during the highly competitive college admissions season. White students are, in fact, a minority on this campus, where 72% are Latino, 18% are white, 5% are Asian, 2% are black and 3% are from other groups.

The club is surely well-intentioned, given its affirmation of being open to all. Its legitimate broader appeal is evident in the fact that four Latino students and one black are now running for club offices. On campus, Latinos, blacks and Asians also have clubs, and those too are open to all comers, as they should be.

Yet there’s food for thought in the example of Anaheim High School, which now has all these organizations advancing the interests of particular groups: How necessary are such parochial associations as our campuses come to reflect truly diverse constituencies, bound by common purpose? Times surely have changed; in some schools the former white majority is now a minority.

Perhaps we are somehow closer to an American ideal--that campuses reflect the melting pot. Anaheim High School is one such constellation of national origins.