A scholarship like one at a Rhode Island university available only to white students probably would never happen at Iowa State, student leaders said.

The whites-only scholarship, put in place by the College Republicans at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., was created to protest affirmative action.

According to the ISU Student Organization Resource Manual, if a student or campus organization at Iowa State funded by the Government of the Student Body wanted to start a scholarship of any kind, it would have to have specific funds allocated for a scholarship from GSB. A campus or student organization would only be allowed to create a scholarship with its own money if it was not funded by GSB.

Sarai Arnold, president of Iowa State’s Black Student Alliance, said she felt the scholarship was effective only as a propaganda technique.

“It started dialogue on affirmative action and race-based scholarships, and that is what it was meant to do,” said Arnold, junior in biology.

The whites-only scholarship requires an essay on “why you are proud of your white heritage” and a recent picture to “confirm whiteness.” The application for the scholarship also states evidence of bleaching will disqualify students.

The scholarship includes a $250 award and was designed to parody minority scholarships.

Although the scholarship does provide a small amount of money, the main purpose of the scholarship is to demonstrate that all scholarships should be given out based on merit and need, rather than ethnicity.

Jason Mattera, president of College Republicans at Roger Williams, said skin color should not be a factor while judging someone on character and academic achievement.

Although the scholarship has upset people at Roger Williams, the school’s administration is not becoming involved in the matter. The scholarship was created by the group and not endorsed by Roger Williams, said the school’s provost.

The College Republicans took out a full-page ad in the Hawk’s Eye, the university’s student newspaper, to advertise the scholarship. The award for the scholarship was originally $50; two donors then came forward to donate $100 each.

Arnold said she felt offering a whites-only scholarship is a result of the many misconceptions about the purpose and function of affirmative action. She said, originally, scholarships being offered only to minority groups gave opportunities to talented students who were not otherwise able to afford college. More recently, the purpose of minority scholarships is to increase the diversity of college campuses, she said.

Dimar Brown, freshman in political science, is a Big 12 Delegate for the Black Student Alliance. He said he does not believe a scholarship like this would be accepted or effective at Iowa State. Brown said he thinks minority groups and other students would not agree with the scholarship and would unify against it.

Brown said he was surprised to hear about the scholarship.

“I was shocked that an issue like this would surface [at such a small university],” he said.

Brown said he thought the requirements for the scholarship were offensive and different than the requirements for minority scholarships. He said people are not required to submit a picture to prove their ethnicity or write essays explaining why they are proud of their ethnicity for minority scholarships.

— The Associated Press contributed to this article.