Michael L Williams

The education official who issued a short-lived ban on scholarships for minorities refused to testify before a House panel, prompting an angry protest from the chairman. The decision to cancel an appearance by Assistant Education Secretary Michael L. Williams is "an affront to the committee, to the Congress and to the American people," said Rep. Augustus F. Hawkins (D-Los Angeles).

William Raspberry raises many points in his commentary "A Suspicious Bolt From the Blue," (Commentary, Dec. 18) most of which are fallacious and typify the racist attitudes of the minority. To insinuate that the recent, now improperly amended, ruling regarding prohibitions against racially based scholarships came "out of the blue" is ludicrous. It was merely the consistent and proper application of federal law regarding the impropriety of programs that discriminate on the basis of race.

William Raspberry raises many points in his commentary "A Suspicious Bolt From the Blue," (Commentary, Dec. 18) most of which are fallacious and typify the racist attitudes of the minority. To insinuate that the recent, now improperly amended, ruling regarding prohibitions against racially based scholarships came "out of the blue" is ludicrous. It was merely the consistent and proper application of federal law regarding the impropriety of programs that discriminate on the basis of race.

The education official who issued a short-lived ban on scholarships for minorities refused to testify before a House panel, prompting an angry protest from the chairman. The decision to cancel an appearance by Assistant Education Secretary Michael L. Williams is "an affront to the committee, to the Congress and to the American people," said Rep. Augustus F. Hawkins (D-Los Angeles).

Under glaring camera lights and behind a small fortress of microphones, Assistant Education Secretary Michael L. Williams stood tall and cool Tuesday as he explained why he was reversing a landmark legal decision that had made the White House squirm. Previously an obscure but well respected official, Williams, who is black, suddenly had become a political lightning rod over his decision last week to deny federal funds to colleges awarding scholarships based solely on race.

Insisting he had been "legally correct" but admitting he had been "politically naive," the Education Department's civil rights chief Tuesday abandoned his controversial position against scholarships reserved for minorities. "This is a reversal," Assistant Secretary of Education Michael L. Williams said. "I had no way of knowing what I did would cause the firestorm it did."

A mid-level Education Department bureaucrat's ruling against college scholarship funds reserved for minorities has plunged the Bush Administration once more into confusion over the politically charged issue of race, splitting the White House over how to respond. "We're looking at it right now," President Bush said as he left Friday for a weekend at his Camp David retreat.

Let's be clear: The federal government is not in the business of handing out race-exclusive scholarships. There are not thousands of scholarship winners like the Huxtable kids on "The Cosby Show"--affluent and without any need of help, but getting it anyway just because they are black. That's fantasy. Knowing that, one has to wonder why the Department of Education's brouhaha over minority scholarships had to occur. Michael L.

Proposed restrictions on minority-only scholarships were bitterly denounced Wednesday by university leaders, who said the policy would threaten to prevent minority students from getting a college education. The educators said that while such scholarships were relatively rare, they were of crucial help in attracting minority students to programs where they would otherwise have little representation. Last week, the Education Department's new civil rights division director, Michael L.

The self-declared "Education President" has a big problem in his Department of Education. It now has no one to lead it; worse, it is unclear where the Administration wants its education secretary to lead it. The departure of Lauro Cavazos and an oddly timed announcement about restrictions on minority college scholarships raise deeply disturbing questions. First, Secretary Cavazos left his post after two years.

Under glaring camera lights and behind a small fortress of microphones, Assistant Education Secretary Michael L. Williams stood tall and cool Tuesday as he explained why he was reversing a landmark legal decision that had made the White House squirm. Previously an obscure but well respected official, Williams, who is black, suddenly had become a political lightning rod over his decision last week to deny federal funds to colleges awarding scholarships based solely on race.

Insisting he had been "legally correct" but admitting he had been "politically naive," the Education Department's civil rights chief Tuesday abandoned his controversial position against scholarships reserved for minorities. "This is a reversal," Assistant Secretary of Education Michael L. Williams said. "I had no way of knowing what I did would cause the firestorm it did."

A mid-level Education Department bureaucrat's ruling against college scholarship funds reserved for minorities has plunged the Bush Administration once more into confusion over the politically charged issue of race, splitting the White House over how to respond. "We're looking at it right now," President Bush said as he left Friday for a weekend at his Camp David retreat.

The Bush Administration's unexpected move last year to limit funding of college scholarships available only to minorities was a "false start" and should be rescinded, Lamar Alexander, the President's choice to become education secretary, assured senators Wednesday.

Attempts by the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to quash minority scholarships are appalling not merely because of what the agency is doing, but also because of what it is ignoring. By devoting its energies to erecting--rather than removing--barriers to educational opportunities for blacks, Latinos and other minorities, the federal agency is willfully neglecting the crisis in minority education.