DEBATE ON SCHOLARSHIPS REACHES REASONABLE END

Over a period of several recent days, Michael Williams got a bitter education in modern governance. Along the way, he added a state-of-the-art description that summarizes forbidden laws in these sensitive times: "legally correct but politically naive." Naivete is not a characteristic treated gingerly in the nation's capital, but Williams survived his bout with "legal correctness" with little more than embarrassment. And in the end, a reasonable policy was established.

Williams is the assistant secretary of education who last week ruled that colleges and universities receiving federal funds could not target scholarships for minorities. "Minority exclusive" scholarships, decided Williams, are probably illegal under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which forbids racial or ethnic discrimination by entities receiving federal funds.

The opinion sent shock waves through higher education and civil rights officialdoms, as well as a surprised Bush administration. The outcry was so intense that less than a week after the policy was made, it was partially altered ... for the better. Under the revisions, the U.S. Education Department will allow universities that receive federal funds to administer scholarships restricted to minority students if the funding comes solely from private persons or organizations.

This seems a workable policy. It would be for Southeast Missouri State University, which has two minority-targeted scholarships that are funded by private sources and would not be affected by the revised policy. It is a common practice for university contributions to be earmarked for specific undertakings: privately funded scholarships routinely target toward those with talent in mathematics, journalism, nursing, athletics and other disciplines. Using taxpayer dollars for racially specific scholarships is a tricky matter. As one education insider said last week, "You can't have a whites-only scholarship. Why should there be scholarships exclusively for minorities?"

Given the controversy surrounding the policy announcement, other individuals or organizations might take up the cause and establish more privately funded minority scholarships. These efforts would be allowable under the announced policy and would be welcomed. Certainly, there is a need for full educational opportunity for minorities, but that opportunity should be available for all persons with a desire to attend college. Michael Williams' rude awakening might have awakened us all to the fair dispensation of these opportunities.