Students disciplined for award campaign

I'd like to know exactly what these students were "disciplined" for. People tend to get caught up in the whole PC "african-american" title, and they forget that it doesn't always mean black.

Some kids at a private school campaigned for a white student from South Africa to get the yearly "Distinguished African American Student Award". This would be a very interesting PTA meeting debate to witness, especially since the parents of the kids that did it aren't apologetic at all.

I mean, they suspended the kid for two days. For what?

This is kind of similiar to my claim that I'm technically a "native american" because I was born in America, except there are actual definitions for native american, and I'm mostly being tongue in cheek. This kid actually IS an african-american. Why wouldn't he be eligible for the award? He's got more ties to Africa than most blacks here in the US claiming the label.

CNN.com - Students disciplined for award campaign - Jan. 22, 2004