Scholarships at Dixie State University are for everyone, but trying to get a national scholarship is nearly impossible if you are Caucasian.
After graduating high school I searched for help funding my education and was hoping to start with my current place of employment: McDonald’s. We all have to start somewhere, right?
I was informed by my boss to check the McDonald’s website in the scholarship section, which was pretty easy to Google.
It was then I realized I had to be a minority to receive one of these scholarships. At that time, there were only Hispanic and Asian-based scholarships. None of them pertained to a white person. I could work hard for a cheap minimum wage, but I was not eligible to get help for college.
I don’t qualify for any of the scholarships because I am white. Working for McDonald’s certainly does not cover paying for anyone’s education, regardless of race.
As a current student, I searched the financial aid scholarship section on Dixie’s website, which has an abundant list of scholarships available. Many are local, state or privately donated funding. I researched and found the list which included various national scholarships, including scholarships for national restaurant chains.
Out of my crazy curiosity and a little underlying animosity, I searched McDonald’s again for what I had hoped had changed in the last 25 years.
McDonald’s had four scholar programs. The first boasted these rules of eligibility: “If you’re under the age of 21 with at least a 2.7 GPA and demonstrated financial need” and “(the scholarships are) open to all students, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability or national origin.” The four lucky recipients chosen last year were of the Hispanic descent.
The other three programs were only to be claimed if you were of Hispanic, African-American or Asian lineage.
So I guess my deadline for being eligible for any of those scholarships passed when I was born.
Another program recently released is Obama’s new “Youth Guidance’s Becoming a Man (B.A.M.) program.” This appears as a gender/age biased platform by name.
This program boasts from the White House website “Opportunity for all: President Obama launches my Brother’s Keeper Initiative to build ladders of opportunity.” Now I am confused if this was a religious or an African American based program.
Reading further, I found it to be the latter, and opportunity is not for all. This program is reverse discrimination. Some people think it’s amusing; I think it’s offensive.
Here I will direct individuals of any ethnicity to a vision of hope. There are many non-discriminatory scholarships at DSU. This isn’t a shameless plug but a recommendation, and as long as you have the need, grades or the credit load, you are eligible. In addition, there are scholarships that are available in the financial aid section. Hurry and begin your applications before the money is distributed and you miss out on yours. DSU won’t care how diverse your background is.
