While it is regrettable that John LaFleur was unable to receive the scholarship offered him by Florida State University, this incident exemplifies the inherent dilemma in affirmative action - giving scholarships and letters of acceptance to less qualified minority members requires that more qualified majority members are left out. LaFleur was obviously the most qualified candidate for the scholarship offered to him, yet governmental and university policies allowed the reward for his hard work to be given to someone who worked less, simply because they were lucky enough to be black.

I know that affirmative action is intended to help underprivileged individuals who otherwise may not have a chance to attend a university and this is an admirable goal. Every member of society benefits when more people are educated, but it sickens me that by helping those who lack the motivation to help themselves we hinder the progress of those who expect to be judged upon their merits alone. Does LaFleur deserve to pay thousands of dollars for his education because he a white American and it is assumed that rather than go on being uneducated he will put himself into debt? Affirmative action says yes. It says, “Well, we’ll give this scholarship to a black American because if we don’t he probably won’t educate himself.” The result of this is that LaFleur will spend years of his life repaying loans, while the less qualified black American at FSU will not.

I in no way mean to imply that affirmative action is solely responsible for the presence of black students at any university, nor that it has benefited many students. Aside from the fact that it is unconstitutional, blatant racial discrimination, if we could implement a policy that helps the underprivileged without harming the majority I would have no objections.

However, the fact remains that race is being valued over ability, and that this occurs even once makes the current policy unacceptable. While I am grateful that MSU does not place specific emphasis on race when granting admission, I cannot help but despise that small print at the bottom of MSU mailings that reads,” MSU is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.” I am appalled that a university does not recognize the oxymoron in that statement.

Lauren Brace
biology and political
science freshman