The Boston University College Republicans' news whites-only scholarship has sparked national attention, debate, and in some cases outrage.
The group's president admits his goal in establishing a $250 Caucasian Achievement and Recognition Scholarship was to kick the proverbial hornets' nest.
Mission accomplished, and then some.
"To tell you the truth, we didn't see this coming," Joe Mroszczyk said. "The Drudge Report picked it up yesterday, and today I just finished a round of national interviews."
"It's kind of overwhelming."
Applicants for the group's award must have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher; must write two essays; and must be at least one-quarter Caucasian.
The application offers an explanation: "We believe that racial preferences in all their forms are perhaps the worst form of bigotry confronting America today."
According to Mroszczyk, his group is offering the scholarship merely to point out "how ridiculous it is to have any sort of racially based scholarship."
At BU, for example, he notes that students who are at least one-quarter Hispanic can apply for a National Hispanic Recognition Scholarship.
"There are poor, white, academically gifted students who need that money just as much," Mroszczyk said, noting that he got the idea from a nearby college.
Two years ago a chapter of the College Republicans at Roger Williams University also offered a $250 whites-only scholarship, he points out.
"We are not doing this as any kind of white supremacy thing. Not at all. I just want to have a dialogue about racial preference," Mroszczyk said.
It seems as if Mroszczyk has gotten his wish.
People from across the country are now weighing in on the idea through e-mail and the radio - and his fellow BU students are having their say too.
"It's a poor way to talk about affirmative action," said David Coreas, the 21-year-old senior who is president of the Latino fraternity Phi Iota Alpha at BU.
"If they want to have a scholarship, then let them have a scholarship, but they're stirring up controversy in the wrong way. We have to look at the situation honestly."
"Caucasians tend to have a higher per capita income than Latinos and other minorities," Coreas notes. "We have to have scholarships to survive."
Coreas said he would welcome an honest dialogue about race and affirmative action, while Mroszczyk admits even some of his friends are at a loss.
"They said I can't believe you're doing this," he said.
And for all the talk, there are still no takers for the scholarship. The application has been available since November 7, and so far not one student has filled it out.
Coreas, for one, says he would try to apply for it, if only he were eligible.
"I wish I could: That $250 could help me pay for textbooks," he said.
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