DRUG CONVICTS' FINANCIAL AID AT RISK

An Open Letter To President Al Bloom

Dear President Bloom,

Earlier in this week, you announced that Swarthmore College, through its
athletic teams, would "...support the NAACP boycott of South Carolina over
the issue of the continued display of the Confederate flag." We believe
that this is a valuable statement of intolerance for an antiquated
inflammatory symbol, and with the help of similar actions by other
institutions it can bring about a sensible action by the people and
government of South Carolina.

We now request that you continue the effort to bring about "...a humane and
just society," and support another policy which has been endorsed by the
NAACP, as well as the National Organization for Women, American Civil
Liberties Union, United States Students' Association, and Friends Committee
on National Legislation. The policy we are speaking of is a reform of the
Higher Education Act of 1998 to remove a provision which denies federal
financial aid to students who have been convicted at a state or federal
level of any drug related offense.

This provision of the HEA goes into effect this July 1, and already the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid includes question 28, which asks
students to report whether or not they have drug related offenses in their
record which subject them to a loss of eligibility. As a result of the
provision, thousands of students will lose their federal need based aid,
and with it, their ability to attend college. There is no similar
regulation for students convicted of crimes such as murder, rape, assault,
vandalism, or theft. This law imposes an unequal burden on students from
lower income families, allowing wealthier students to continue their
education without worry, in effect creating separate drug laws for the rich
and the poor.

In addition, this law is, whether intentionally or not, inexcusably racist.
The facts about drug arrests and convictions are crystal clear.
Non-Hispanic African Americans make up a little over 11.3 percent of
Americans over the age of 12. Americans from Hispanic backgrounds make up
about 10.2 percent. Non-Hispanic Blacks make up 15 percent of current drug
users, and Hispanics make up about 10 percent. Blacks (Hispanic and
non-Hispanic), were 36.8 percent of those arrested for "drug abuse
violations" in 1997. In 1996, Blacks (again regardless of Hispanic
heritage) made up 53 percent of those convicted of a felony drug offense in
State courts, including 49 percent of those convicted for possession
related offenses. The incongruence is staggering.

Student governments from 13 campuses around the country have endorsed HEA
reform, and we hope that the Swarthmore student body will follow suit
shortly. My challenge to you, President Bloom, is two-fold. First, we ask
you, on behalf of the administration of Swarthmore College, to endorse HEA
reform, and the end of a racist restriction on need based federal financial
aid. Secondly, we ask you to work with the Swarthmore financial aid
department, to replace aid denied to students because of this act of Congress.

Flying a Confederate flag over a government building is a symbolic gesture
which many Americans now come to equate with racial hatred and
discrimination. Denying need based financial aid to students in an
observably racist fashion is worse. It is an act which continues the legacy
of the Confederate flag, and what it symbolizes, indefinitely into the future.

Benjamin Gaines '01
President, Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Delonte Gholston '02
President, College Democrats