[NOTE: This post has been UPDATED]
Reader Daniel Love Glazer sent the following email, which I quote with permission:
I am a member of The United Methodist Church, and my daughter is a high school senior planning to go to college next year. Someone suggested that our daughter, as an active Church member, might be eligible for one of the scholarships the United Methodist Church provides. I just checked the relevant website, which lists a number of available scholarships. Most are restricted to students at one of the more than 100 United Methodist-related colleges and universities, which is reasonable, but several of these are “open to racial/ethnic minority youth only.” Why?
Note: The slogan of The United Methodist Church is “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.” It seems that hearts, minds, and doors are more open to racial/ethnic minorities than others.
If you follow the link, you’ll see that the United Methodist Scholarship Program does indeed provide some scholarships “for racial and ethnic undergraduate or graduate students,” such as the Richard S. Smith Scholarship, which “is open to racial/ethnic minority youth only.”
I replied to Mr. Glazer:
Thanks for passing this on. My first thought is that churches are probably free (and probably should be free) to engage in this sort of discrimination, as unwise and unappealing as it is. My second thought is to wonder whether the African Methodist Episcopal church has scholarships reserved for white and Asian students.
My third thought is that, following the holding in the Bob Jones University case, the foundation administering these scholarships and the creators of contributors to the scholarships themselves should receive no tax exemptions.
UPDATE
Reader Mark Mark Chumley read the United Methodist scholarship web site much more thoroughly than I did, and he points out that my mention of one race-based scholarship “only scratches the surface.” He provides a list of others:
The Bishop Joseph B. Bethea Scholarship – Undergraduate scholarship for African American students.
The Ethnic Minority Scholarship – Undergraduate award for Native American, Asian, African American, Hispanic, or Pacific Islander ethnic groups.
The Edith M. Allen Scholarship – This scholarship is for outstanding African-American graduate or undergraduate students pursuing a degree in education, social work, medicine, and/or other health professions.
The HANA Scholarship – Applicant must be born of Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or Pacific Island parentage (at least one parent).
The Native American Seminary Award – Award for Native American students pursuing a degree at a University Senate- approved seminary.
The Women of Color Scholars Program – Applicants must be born of African, African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American/Alaskan Indian, or Pacific Island parentage (at least one parent)
Mr. Chumley, a labor and employment lawyer, sent a letter to several church officials about these scholarships, and promises to report anything interesting he learns.
