Difference between revisions of "Lydia C. Roberts Graduate and Traveling Fellowships"
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| − | The '''Lydia C. Roberts Graduate and Traveling Fellowships''' were established in [[1920]] and limited to students | + | The '''Lydia C. Roberts Graduate and Traveling Fellowships''' were established in [[1920]] and limited to students "of the Caucasian race". Needless to say, this doesn't go down as well as it (somehow) did in 1920, but it has taken the university until [[2013]] to begin the process of amending the fellowship's racial restriction, despite the fact that the NAACP started to call for changing it in [[1949]] (at the time, then-[[Provost]] and later [[University President]] [[Grayson Kirk]] defended the fellowship, saying "we do not feel we are justified in depriving some of our students of the benefits of restricted grants simply because they are not available to everyone.") |
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| + | Reportedly, some recipients were not even ever made aware of the racial requirement that allowed them to obtain the fellowship. | ||
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| + | Lydia C. Chamberlain, the donor who contributed a then-fortune of $500,000 to establish the fund, also imposed some other crazy restrictions - recipients had to have been born in [[Iowa]] and could not be studying law, medicine, dentistry, veterinary surgery or theology, for whatever reason. | ||
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| + | When first established, the fund paid $691, then a year's full tuition. The last time it was awarded, in [[1997]], it paid out $22,000, then only half a year's tuition. | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 12:07, 15 May 2013
The Lydia C. Roberts Graduate and Traveling Fellowships were established in 1920 and limited to students "of the Caucasian race". Needless to say, this doesn't go down as well as it (somehow) did in 1920, but it has taken the university until 2013 to begin the process of amending the fellowship's racial restriction, despite the fact that the NAACP started to call for changing it in 1949 (at the time, then-Provost and later University President Grayson Kirk defended the fellowship, saying "we do not feel we are justified in depriving some of our students of the benefits of restricted grants simply because they are not available to everyone.")
Reportedly, some recipients were not even ever made aware of the racial requirement that allowed them to obtain the fellowship.
Lydia C. Chamberlain, the donor who contributed a then-fortune of $500,000 to establish the fund, also imposed some other crazy restrictions - recipients had to have been born in Iowa and could not be studying law, medicine, dentistry, veterinary surgery or theology, for whatever reason.
When first established, the fund paid $691, then a year's full tuition. The last time it was awarded, in 1997, it paid out $22,000, then only half a year's tuition.
