<p>Here is the link to the article that asks the question if Diddy's son should return the scholarship.</p>
<p>Should</a> Diddy's Son Return $54,000 College Scholarship? - Yahoo! Finance</p>
<p>I am not sure why this is an issue as I believe that son won the scholarship fair and square.</p>
<p>There was a thread on this last month:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1347040-p-diddys-son-gets-full-ride-ucla.html?highlight=p+diddy[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1347040-p-diddys-son-gets-full-ride-ucla.html?highlight=p+diddy</a></p>
<p>I agree - he won it fair and square. What’s the controversy?</p>
<p>Exactly. There are plenty of merit and sports scholarships that are awarded to people who can otherwise afford college. Those type of awards are meant to be rewards for achievement. A child of a wealthy family has every right to be rewarded for their hard work and success. Since they are not all from famous families, we don’t always hear about it, but there is no difference between those kids and Diddy’s son.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the families in this situation end up donating to the school in other ways than tuition, but that of course is up to them.</p>
<p>Yes, these families might turn out to donate money in the future–entire buildings, even.</p>
<p>Agree with everyone else, he earned it by his athletic accomplishments, he should take it.</p>
<p>And where were these protesters when the other 1,456,874 kids of former accomplished pro athletes and celebrities were getting scholarships??</p>
<p>I know the kids of Barry Sanders, Michael Jordan, Master P (hip-hop), Maseo (De La Soul/Hip-Hop) are like “Whew…glad Diddy’s kid is getting the heat”.</p>
<p>Forget the celebrities. Plenty of kids from well-to-do families get full rides various places, whether it’s because of academic merit or athletic merit. In other news, the sun rises in the east.</p>
<p>Sorry, I think it’s very wrong. Both my daughters turned down scholarships (one full ride including airfare) to allow those who need it more to have a chance. It’s sinful IMHO and very, very greedy. </p>
<p>One possibility is that you can accept the scholarship and then donate the amount to the school which gives the donor tax breaks. I’d like to think that’s what those who can afford to do.</p>
<p>UCLA wanted him for both his athletic talent and what he would bring to the visibility of UCLA football which plays a distant second to USC in the huge LA area. He and Snoop’s son will bring some street cred with kids that would always prefer USC given the choice.WIN WIN</p>
<p>It might be nice to return it, since he can afford to do so, but he didn’t steal it from anyone. He earned it. I might understand why someone would be upset over him not doing so, but I see no reason why he should be obligated to. There’s plenty of examples out there of people getting opportunities solely because of money (though in the sense of a scholarship that doesn’t really make sense), but that’s not what’s happening here.</p>
<p>And don’t forget, everyone is always saying kids of celebrities and the very wealthy are spoiled or entitled and don’t work for what they have. Well here is a kid who is supporting his own college education and not just living off his Dad back. Congrats to him.</p>
<p>My kids didn’t apply for or get any scholarships, but I wouldn’t feel any obligation to “pay the school back” if they got them. I didn’t feel a need to pay anyone back for being a National Merit Scholar way back when, even though my parents were full-pay. If it bothers you that a school chooses to give aid other than financial, don’t apply there - problem solved.</p>
<p>I was thinking that especially for the child of such a celebrity, it is a huge achievement to earn a scholarship like this on his own merit. </p>
<p>If he had not earned this scholarship on his own merit, there would be plenty of people complaining that he had been accepted only because his dad is famous and wealthy…and especially as an African American son of a performer, there would be aspersions cast on his qualifications.</p>
<p>Rich kids can’t win - slackers if they rely on daddy’s dime, selfish if they pay their own way when daddy can afford to.</p>
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<p>I hope you are kidding, but I fear that you are not. Geez.</p>
<p>Don’t forget the money that he is bringing to UCLA by playing good football, hopefully giving good publicity, and getting butts in the seats. That is why money is given athletes. And D1 athletics can be like a full time job. If he decided to get a paid internship, would people be saying that he should refuse the money?</p>
<p>Sinful?? Jiminy.</p>
<p>Tony Dungy’s son plays at the U of Oregon here. So does Howie Long’s son. I wonder if no one ever says anything about kids like those because their fathers are athletes instead of musicians. I’d bet that neither of those kids are hurting for money. Sean Combs’ son also had impressive academic stats that helped get him his scholarship. Why should the bar be set higher for him? I agree with above poster who mentioned that in a way we should be more impressed, not less, with him accomplishments.</p>
<p>Schools don’t give these kinds of scholarships because they are nice, or because they want to help the rich and famous, or even because the students have “earned” them. They do it to lure these students to the school, because they think it will help the school. It’s no different from a clothing designer giving free clothes to a celebrity so she will wear them in public.</p>
<p>Clearly I’m in the minority here. Both my daughters were offered scholarships (one was a full ride including airfare) and both turned down all sorts of financial assistance because we have no need for it. Both felt it better to allow others who needed the money to receive the money. It made no difference in their choice of school attendance.</p>
<p>In response to a few comments above -
<ul>
<li><p>kids from wealthy families are always “damned if they do, damned if they don’t.” That is just something they learn at a fairly young age. </p></li>
<li><p>why should a kid from a wealthy family be any more impressive if they are superior in anything, be it academically, athletically, artistically, whatever. That should be self-motivated and not need the outside accreditation of his/her expertise.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The amount of money he received is pocket change to his family, more is spent on vacations. Yes, things are different for multi-millionaires and their families and I just see no reason to take what you do not need.</p>
<p>I would be more impressed to see an article about how he is giving back to society rather than taking something he does not need, even if he earned it. But, as I said, I am apparently in the minority here.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think you are definitely in the minority and, in my opinion, very off-base. But I guess if your family truly has more money than you could ever need, your perspective is a little different.</p>
<p>A scholarship D1 athlete is a certain designation and comes with obligations and benefits as a result. One of those benefits is the tuition/room and board payment.</p>