Although plans for a White Student Union at Eastern Illinois University have failed, the idea mirrors a growing trend at universities nationwide.

EIU senior Doug Hettinger planned to start a white student union in order to represent the interests of the “white majority.”

However, the WSU could not apply to become a university-recognized organization because it lacked a faculty adviser, one of the criteria that needed to be met.

Glenn Williams, vice president for Student Affairs at EIU, said the lack of an adviser was the only requirement not fulfilled.

“They do not have an adviser at the present time,” Williams said. “They were never eligible to apply.”

The situation at EIU is only one example of the growing trend of white interest groups on campuses nationwide.

According to Dinesh D’Souza’s book, “Illiberal Education,” there are currently at least two colleges that have white student unions—Temple University in Philadelphia and Florida State University in Tallahassee.

The unions were set up to “oppose perceived racial double standards in admissions and campus life,” D’Souza said.

In D’Souza’s book, Mark Wright, organizer of the white student union at Florida State University, expressed his opinions on the so-called double standards applied to blacks and whites.

“When whites decide to stand up for issues that are important to them, they are labeled racist,” Wright said. “When blacks do so, they are labeled civil rights activists.”

The move toward “white rights” is also evident at George Washington University where some students held a “white history week party” in 1987 to counter black history month.

Preston Came, president of the Student Association, said he is aware of this growing trend.

“This is a nationwide phenomenon,” Came said.

Came said the formation of a white student union at NIU would lead to some conflict.

“It would undoubtedly spark a great deal of controversy just as it has at Temple, Florida State and probably will at Eastern,” Came said.

However, Came said a similar organization could be formed at NIU if it filled all of the regulations of the SA constitution and the university constitution.

“They would have to follow all the guidelines that all of the other organizations prescribed to,” Came said. “Then it might be difficult, but it would be up to the senate to decide.”

If the senate did pass a white student union at NIU, Judy Moncrieffe, treasurer of the black student organization, said she would not be against it as long as it worked toward certain goals.

“We work for the betterment of the community and to try to promote unity,” Moncrieffe said. “I personally would have nothing against it if we were all working for the same goal attainment.”