By Aswad Walker
Originally appeared in Word in Black
With states from sea to shining sea enacting laws to ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices, and the SCOTUS overturning of Affirmative Action spelling doom for race-based scholarships and funding for programs meant to support these students who have been under-represented on predominantly white campuses for generations – not for lack of ability, but rather decades of racist practices, coupled with savage inequalities in educational venues that leave Black and Brown students in a resource and exposures deficit – this spring’s crop of Black high school graduates preparing to go off to college are facing unchartered waters. And they and their parents are feeling it.
Texas is among five states that have recently passed legislation trashing DEI programs. At least 20 others are considering it. The University of Texas at Austin fired roughly 70 people, complying with Senate Bill 17, the new Texas law effectively banning DEI efforts at public colleges.
The University of Houston was one of the first colleges to shutter its Center for Diversity and Inclusion, bending to the will of that same state law.
Duke University in North Carolina discontinued its full-ride scholarship for students of African descent and replaced it with a program without a scholarship that is open to all students. This move came after last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down race-conscious college admissions practices.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill banning DEI programs in publicly-funded colleges, making the former member of the confederacy just another Republican-led state to make such a move. Ivey gleefully complied with Alabama’s SB129 that not only banned institutions from maintaining DEI offices but also from teaching what the bill calls “divisive concepts” about race and identity.
The University of Florida, as well, closed its Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors and reallocated approximately $5 million in funds once reserved for DEI expenses.
These moves by colleges in state and beyond have created a different landscape for Black students and their parents seeking college admissions and funding to pay for it.
“Florence Mays,” who doesn’t want to use her real name for fear it might jeopardize her daughter’s chances for accessing additional scholarships, says she was shocked at the slow pace of college acceptances.
“My daughter, ‘Jill,’ graduated in the top 10% of her class, and was accepted to one of the Texas big state schools, but they claimed they had no scholarship money available for her,” said Mays. “I was like, ‘What do you mean?”
Mays was shocked because just three years ago her son, “Frank,” was accepted to that same university with an almost identical grade and activities portfolio, yet he had no issues accessing scholarship funds that have limited what the Mays family had to come out of pocket.
And the Mays family is not alone.
The “Sanfords,” “Ronald” and “Betty,” are originally from Virginia, but met while both attended Duke University. These transplant Texans whose son “Ray” attended school in Katy ISD, wanted their son to stay in-state for college, but would have had no problem if he were accepted by Duke and received scholarship support.
“It was a crazy rollercoaster of emotions going on in our household because one day we’re singing and shouting for joy when ‘Ray’ got his letter of acceptance from Duke,” recalled Mrs. Sanford. “But when we got the news that the Reginaldo Howard scholarship program was redone and kind of whitewashed, that kind of rained on our parade.”
“Ray” is still planning on attending Duke, but his financial aid package now includes a heavy dose of loans to go along with numerous scholarships from various entities (service organizations, Black Greek organizations and churches).
“Those scholarships ‘Ray’ earned aren’t all that big, but they are helpful and they are going to have to do. He will more than likely also have to find a job. Duke’s scholarship program that helped so many of our students over the years, it being gone is going to hurt our numbers on that campus, and that’s a shame,” added Mrs. Sanford.
A University of Texas at Austin staff member familiar with the financial aid and scholarship process at the school said she felt sick to her stomach when she looked at the number of students who would have received scholarships and other support before the DEI and affirmative action bans but now don’t have that option.
“I’ve been on the phone now with far too many families, parents, and students, trying to find some workaround, some way they can still attend UT,” said “Dolores Achebe.” “Some are still going to enroll here, but so, so many others chose to go to universities where the economics made more sense for their family incomes. I hate to think that we’re once again seeing scores of bright, talented young Black people not able to attend the college of their choice because of, from my perspective, politics.”
