The University of Michigan Alumni Association has ended the LEAD Scholars program, a merit-based scholarship that worked to improve enrollment for minority students.
My daughter is a freshman, we are devastated. She's an out of state student and as parents we had to take out too much in Parent Loans. LEAD was such a help both financially and also through the programming. One of the reasons we supported her decision to attend was because of UM's long commitment to diversity. I'm stunned y the action taken by the Alumni Association, these kids were promised 4 years of funding!
My daughter is a freshman nursing student and LEAD scholar. My wife and I are teachers and so we were depending on this scholarship to help pay for the next three years. Nursing is not a high paying profession and we are hoping she will not accumulate too much debt.
9 times out of ten with stories like this, it shows that the decisions made here our based out of fear of reprisal from the government and not actually reasonable thought process. And making decisions based off of fear of government censure sure doesn't sound like a democracy.
This is very disappointing. It makes absolutely no sense that the alumni association made this decision out of fear instead of reason. A huge let down for current students of the scholarship program and future students who could have benefited from that resource.
My white, freshman son is (was) a LEAD Scholar. The LEAD Scholarshp program was not racially discriminatory or exclusionary. Instead, it was a program that provided support to a truly diverse community of hard working kids, who also came together on campus for LEAD programming, events and giving back to the community. The kids applied for and obtained these scholarships AFTER they earned admission to UM (no preferences). And this program was 100% funded by donors! It was in No way in violation of any laws or EOs. Even if someone genuinely thought there was risk here and the program needed to be ended, to end it AND take away the support already promised to currently-enrolled students is inexcusable. Dishonorable cowards. Very disappointed in UM.
I’m at U of M, the beneficiaries of DEI at U of M weren’t just black students or faculty. There needs to be an investigation on who benefited from DEI vs they cutting programs based on identity politics
I read about this earlier today and it saddens me. I was a kid whose college was funded through scholarships made available for me because I am Hispanic... but I was also. High gpa, test scores etc. we couldn't have afford it. My mom made less money a year then it cost for me to go there..in state! I want to help these students and hope we are given the opportunity to do so.
I appreciate projecting the awareness of DEI initiatives; however, let's become cognisant of the reality of DEI. Sure, we immediately assume that the word Diversity will always include people of color, but by the interpretation of the majority. I digress; nothing in America was created for people of color. Let's not provide a false narrative and speak the truth. DEI and its diverse title benefit the minority(women) and the majority.
If any of the impacted students are reading this, my fellow alumni and I would love to contribute directly to you.
My daughter is a freshman, we are devastated. She's an out of state student and as parents we had to take out too much in Parent Loans. LEAD was such a help both financially and also through the programming. One of the reasons we supported her decision to attend was because of UM's long commitment to diversity. I'm stunned y the action taken by the Alumni Association, these kids were promised 4 years of funding!
My daughter is a freshman nursing student and LEAD scholar. My wife and I are teachers and so we were depending on this scholarship to help pay for the next three years. Nursing is not a high paying profession and we are hoping she will not accumulate too much debt.
I’m not a beneficiary anymore but would love to connect with you. We are trying to see what we can do next to do this support
Let's connect! DMed you
9 times out of ten with stories like this, it shows that the decisions made here our based out of fear of reprisal from the government and not actually reasonable thought process. And making decisions based off of fear of government censure sure doesn't sound like a democracy.
Thank you for featuring voices impacted by this and capturing this devastating loss beautifully
This is very disappointing. It makes absolutely no sense that the alumni association made this decision out of fear instead of reason. A huge let down for current students of the scholarship program and future students who could have benefited from that resource.
My white, freshman son is (was) a LEAD Scholar. The LEAD Scholarshp program was not racially discriminatory or exclusionary. Instead, it was a program that provided support to a truly diverse community of hard working kids, who also came together on campus for LEAD programming, events and giving back to the community. The kids applied for and obtained these scholarships AFTER they earned admission to UM (no preferences). And this program was 100% funded by donors! It was in No way in violation of any laws or EOs. Even if someone genuinely thought there was risk here and the program needed to be ended, to end it AND take away the support already promised to currently-enrolled students is inexcusable. Dishonorable cowards. Very disappointed in UM.
I’m at U of M, the beneficiaries of DEI at U of M weren’t just black students or faculty. There needs to be an investigation on who benefited from DEI vs they cutting programs based on identity politics
Thank you for this! I had just told someone how UM did so much work to circumvent anti DEI policy in the past, so this was disappointing to hear.
I read about this earlier today and it saddens me. I was a kid whose college was funded through scholarships made available for me because I am Hispanic... but I was also. High gpa, test scores etc. we couldn't have afford it. My mom made less money a year then it cost for me to go there..in state! I want to help these students and hope we are given the opportunity to do so.
I appreciate projecting the awareness of DEI initiatives; however, let's become cognisant of the reality of DEI. Sure, we immediately assume that the word Diversity will always include people of color, but by the interpretation of the majority. I digress; nothing in America was created for people of color. Let's not provide a false narrative and speak the truth. DEI and its diverse title benefit the minority(women) and the majority.