PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A whites-only scholarship at Roger Williams University has generated hundreds of supportive e-mails and promises of financial support, according to the student group that created it as a statement against affirmative action.

“We’ve been receiving hundreds of e-mails … affirming what we are doing,” College Republicans’ President Jason Mattera said Tuesday. “About 60 percent are asking: How can we donate money?”

The state Republican Party has criticized the $250 scholarship for having “racist overtones.”

The scholarship was first offered two weeks ago to point out “the disparity on college campuses where schools compile scholarships just for minority students,” Mattera said. “Those who come from white (descent) are left to find scholarships on their own.”

Mattera is of Puerto Rican descent and says he was awarded a $5,000 scholarship from the Hispanic College Fund. He believes his ability to collect such scholarships gives him “an inherent advantage over my white peers.”

At least four people have applied for the scholarship, said Mattera, 20, a junior from Brooklyn, N.Y. A winner will be selected by the group’s executive board and announced Wednesday, he said.

When freshman Joe Wilcox applied, the scholarship was only for $50; it’s been increased to match donations collected. If money keeps coming in, more than one scholarship may be offered. The student group says it’s gotten more than $3,000 in pledges.

“I thought I’d be the only applicant at first, I applied half serious and half not,” said Wilcox, 19, of Norwalk, Conn.

“But now it’s up to $250 and it would be nice to get that kind of money,” he said. “I have a $350 housing deposit due.”

Wilcox, a member of the College Republicans, said he thinks “the cause is right. I don’t think there is any basis for calling us racist.”

The student group has sparked much debate on campus since Mattera started it about two years ago.

The university administration temporarily froze the College Republicans’ money in the fall during a fight over a series of articles published in its monthly newsletter. The articles in the September issue accused homosexuals of squelching free speech by pushing for hate-crimes legislation and alleged that a well-known gay-rights group indoctrinates students into homosexual sex.

In the end, no action was taken against the Republicans.

On Tuesday, a subcommittee of the student Senate discussed the scholarship after a question was raised about whether it violated the student Senate’s Commitment to Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race. The committee voted 3-1, with one abstention, that the scholarship was a political statement, and thus not discriminatory, said Erin Bedell, president of the student body.

No formal complaint about the scholarship has been filed.

The student Senate subcommittee also decided to take take no action against the College Republicans stemming from a complaint about a recent article in the newsletter on Kwanzaa, which celebrates the history and heritage of Africa. Bedell said the article sparked a complaint by a multicultural student group. No action was taken because the group decided not to ask for an apology but a review of all campus publications.

Mattera said the newsletter articles are protected under freedom-of-speech rights.

The university has stayed out of the scholarship debate.

The College Republican National Committee hasn’t taken a formal position, though executive director Mike Krueger said “everyone sees the point Jason is trying to highlight, that scholarships and other student aid should be based on content of character.”

Bedell, a 20-year-old senior from Monmouth Beach, N.J., said the whites-only application hasn’t generated any formal complaints, though the student Senate finds one line of the scholarship application to be in poor taste. That line notes “evidence of bleaching will disqualify applicants.”

Mattera said the line was an attempt at humor designed to catch the attention of college students.

“We didn’t know the monetary award would be so high,” he said.

AP-ES-02-18-04 1005EST