NIU officials believe that a possible ban on college scholarships for minorities would have serious implications if action is taken by the Secretary of Education.

Michael L. Williams, chief of the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, said in December that “generally speaking, race-exclusive scholarships are violative of Title VI,” the section of the Civil Rights Act that bans discrimination on the basis of race or national origin.

Wednesday, Williams told the House Government Operations Subcommittee that he didn’t believe the situation was any different when he cautioned Fiesta Bowl Officials they might be straying from the law for offering two universities scholarships exclusively for minorities.

Education Secretary Lamar Alexander said the administration would not try to ban minority scholarships for at least six months while he studies the issue more.

However, attorneys for the Washington Legal Foundation announced they will take legal action to make sure the ban against minority-based scholarships is enforced.

The bantering in Washington has hit home in DeKalb.

Barbara Henley, vice president for Student Affairs, said if the scholarships are banned, the results could be quite serious. “I think it will have very serious implications for the U.S. If we don’t fulfill our responsibility to educate everyone, we will suffer as a nation,” she said.

NIU hands out about 40 tuition waivers a year to deserving minority students as part of the school’s recruiting efforts, said Bob Burk, associate director for admissions. However, Burk said he sees little chance of a ban actually passing.

“I would be awfully surprised (if this passed). The reason schools do this is it’s to our advantage to have a diverse student population,” he said. “This probably sent shockwaves through the academic community. We’d be going the wrong way if we reversed this. It’s taken years to where we could offer incentives and awards for students.”

Serena Donc, legislative director for the United States Student Council, said the only reason these issues are being debated is because of misconceptions about the matter.

“Clearly, what we need to be doing is reinforcing that these (non-discriminate) policies are necessary and legal,” Donc said.