Duke ends full-ride scholarship program only open to ‘African’ students

Duke University will no longer exclude white, Hispanic, Asian, and Latino students from a special scholarship that pays for tuition and room and board.

The Reginaldo Howard scholarship will be converted into a leadership initiative and be open to all students. Previously, only students of “African descent” were allowed to apply for the scholarship.

“These selected candidates are considered to be among the top applicants of African descent to Duke University,” an archive of the website states. “Over the course of several weeks, Advisory Council members and current scholars evaluate the dossiers of these candidates in hopes of generating a group of fifteen to twenty students for final consideration for the award.”