Should P. Diddy's son return his scholarship money?

[Spartan212]

This story screams of racism to me. Why is this a big deal? It's a big deal because of WHO his father is and the stigma that is attributed to being a "rap mogul" such as him.

Michael Wilbon says it best, IMO

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7994532/ucla-bruins-defend-scholarship-awarded-justin-combs-son-sean-diddy-combs

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

He should do whatever he wants with it. As far as I'm concerned, he's entitled to keep it, whether that's his choice or not. The scholarship wasn't for being financially disadvantaged, it was for athletics.

 

[lacktheknack]

You know what? Justin worked hard to keep his grades that high while being a football star, so he should get that scholarship, family finances be damned. If anything, this should be taken as a valuable lesson on what hard work can do for you.

This is one of those times where someone "slips through the cracks" but I can deal with it.

If you can't, there's two options for you: A. Enforce a family income restriction on these scholarships, or B. come to Canada, where a $54,000 scholarship is a five year free ride + $20,000.

(Seriously, how do US schools get away with those fees? HOW?)

 

[RagTagBand]

He certainly earned it, but he should really recognize that he doesn't *need* it and shouldn't have accepted it so that someone else, who also could have earned that scholarship, who WOULD need it could take advantage of it.

He could get into that college with those grades and athletic ability regardless of the scholarship, however there are going to be people who don't have the luxury of not NEEDING a spare 50k.

 

[370999]

To me it's simple, if he meets the conditions need for the scholarship then it's his to do what he wants with. Now, for myself, I tend to think it's a bit silly to keep the money but that is his decision. And I can certainly understand why he would want to compete for it.

 

[crazyarms33]

You've completely lost the thread of what I was saying. I'm not talking about care, or fair, or deserve.

If Combs (or his father) value winning football games more highly than the $50k than he could increase the team's talent level by returning the scholarship. He pays to attend the school and keeps the roster spot he would have used regardless. But now the scholarship could be used to entice a player, who was thinking of going to another school because that school offered a scholarship, to come to UCLA instead.

I never said it was or wasn't something Combs to do, simply that purely from a winning football point of view, returning the scholarship may improve the odds of the team's success.

Ah. So I did. My mistake! I do apologize for that.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

So this kid, rather than just saying "Why should I work hard at anything, my dad's got it covered" decides to earn his own way in to college? Maybe he wants to make his own way in life rather just letting his surname pave his way to success.

If he gets a degree and offered a high paying job should he turn that down because he's got daddy's money and someone else could use that job?

I think most of the concern comes from the fact that the family has the means to pay out of pocket for the most expensive university you could imagine where others depend on scholarships, grants and loans to make it through. Given the latter can leave you in crippling debt easily enough, people vying for the first two are pretty common and thus having it handed to someone who clearly doesn't need it is seen as more than a little unfair.

I, for example, did not qualify for much in the way of free money as the bulk of it is earmarked for people who are better athletes, or a minority, or a female, or first generation college student, or poor. I seem to sit in that magic spot where my family had enough money etc that I only was awarded the occasional scholarship for academic merit, which in total amounted to a few thousand dollars of the 50,000 USD it cost me to attend.