The September 30th Daily Illini editorial addressed the General Assembly college scholarship. While it is my belief that the editorial board is trying to educate students on the possibility of further corruption in our political and educational system, the broad assumptions and generalizing statements are rather offensive to students they don’t apply to.

I am currently a graduate student at the UI campus (and attended UI as an undergraduate), and both of my sisters attend here as undergraduates. Each one of us has been a recipient of the General Assembly scholarship in the past, and not because of dolled out “free rides to politically connected students.” Each one of us was in the top 3% of our class, and received ACT scores of 31, 30, and 28. We have never assumed that we were “undeserving students,” and since our parents hold jobs as a bus driver and a copy repairman, it was unlikely that we would be able to attend school without support from scholarships.

While it is necessary to root out corruption, one must be careful to not overgeneralize to the point in which those that are not corrupt are exhumed as well. I have been an active student in calling for reform on campus, but according to the DI, I must be part of the problem, despite the fact that the representative that offered me a scholarship does not know my parents well.

In fact, that particular representative does not fit the assumptions of the DI’s argument at all. They have a committee that reviews the applications, they offer four one-year scholarships, and the application process is available at the school and online.

While it could be assumed that the scholarships would be used to buy political favor, the idea is more to further the education of residents of Illinois in the hope that they will make the state a better place. If we begin to assume that all politicians are corrupt, and no one can be trusted, we are on a quick down slide to anarchy. Yes, there needs to be reform. But it should be done on a case by case basis where corruption is prevalent. Making the assertion that everyone connected to clout is corrupt hurts more than just administrators and legislators, it hurts students and their families as well. Advocate for positive change, perhaps using our representative as a model; don’t just fling insults without regard for who you hurt.

Eric, Katie and Kelsey Green

graduate student in ACES, junior in LAS, and freshman in Engineering