First Annual White Heterosexual Male Scholarship

A while back, the College Republicans at the University of Rhode Island tried their hands at a wee bit of social satire: They inaugurated the First Annual White Heterosexual Male Scholarship[PDF of application]. "Applicants were asked, first, to certify that they were indeed white, heterosexual, American and male and then to answer two questions: 'In 100 words or less, what does being a White Heterosexual American Male mean to you? As a White Heterosexual American Male, what adversities have you had to deal with and overcome?'"

The inevitable occurs:

The student senate was not amused, and in February the Student Organizations Advisory and Review Committee demanded that the College Republicans: A) not award the $100 scholarship, B) apologize in writing for having violated the anti-discrimination section of the senate's bylaws, and C) seek permission from the senate before mounting any programs in the next 12 months. The group cheerfully agreed to A – why not? – and declined to comply with B and C.

In response the Advisory and Review Committee exercised the nuclear option and voted to derecognize the group, in spite of the fact that Robert Carothers, the university's president, had declared on April 6 that it was unconstitutional to require the College Republicans to "make public statements which are not their own." (The relevant First Amendment category is "compelled speech.")

The student senate backed down on Thursday. Stanley Fish blogs on the resolution and does some deepthink about FIRE's role in the controversy.

More on FIRE here and here. The founders of FIRE write in Reason here and here.