UMKC seeks to remove ‘race-based’ scholarships, 15 to be affected

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The University of Missouri is looking to remove racial criteria from its scholarship programs. This is following a 2023 Supreme Court decision that banned universities from using race as a factor in their issions processes.

According to a petition filed by the University of Missouri, this request is being made in response to last year’s Supreme Court decision that found the use of racial criteria in the college issions process a violation of the fourteenth amendment.

Part of the petition reads, “While the Harvard decision most specifically concerned the issions process, the legal framework and analysis should apply equally to a university’s award of other valuable benefits, including scholarship awards and program benefits.”

Also Read: Black-owned shoe store returns to Kansas City, from Independence, after multiple break-ins

This decision could affect the fate of 15 scholarship programs offered at UMKC.

“I think that it’s a mistake,” said Chandler Turner Scholarship chair Gayle Lee.

Over the past 10 years, the Chandler Turner Scholarship Fund has awarded $96,000 in scholarships to graduating African American high school students throughout the Kansas City Metro. Some of these students have gone on to continue their higher education at UMKC.

“I feel strongly that it’s a mistake for other agencies not to look at that and not see that there is a difference and that African American students are just as capable, but they don’t have the same opportunities,” she said.

Vel Tibbs is a 21-year veteran employee on UMKC’S campus who says he has gotten to know generations of students from diverse backgrounds.

“I would hope and wish that nothing would change and things would be good for everybody,” said Tibbs.

Awards given by the Chandler Turner Scholarship Fund range from $500 to $2,000 and Lee says for some recipients every penny counts.

“African Americans are doing the catch up and many other minority groups too are catching up and money is essential in trying to catch up,” said Lee.

Now she expects with the potential elimination of race-based scholarships at UMKC, more students will be turning to agencies like hers for help.

Read More: Trial for Jackson County property tax lawsuit delayed

“If they see history and how it’s affected the fact that it’s hard to catch up then maybe they’d be more open to giving a hand-up,” she said.

More information about the Chandler Turner Scholarship Fund can be found here.

It could be months before a decision is reached about the legal filing.

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.