Why would an Ivy League college suspend a destitute Black boy for a year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All cheating is bad regardless and if you take a chance cheating, you take a chance of getting caught. No sympathy, whether it's him or my wealthy white/South Asian daughter.

Thank you for dropping your mask and revealing your racism and classism. I feel sorry for you that you can't seeing the evil involved when Ivy League PhDs bait and entrap low-income unsophisticated students with online assignments loaded with tracking software, railroad them with Ivy bureaucracy when they know they have zero resources, and quite literally make them homeless for a year. A college with tens of billions of dollars in an endowment. Literally putting this teen boy in jail for a year would be safer. At least he would have shelter and food.

This is so over the top and wrongheaded that it has to be a joke. Right?

No it's not a joke, Inspector Javert. I'm sorry if you get off on this sort of thing. I don't get off on destitute Black teenagers with nothing and nobody getting zero tolerance railroaded by PhDs and a college with tens of billions of dollars.

Your language is completely hysterical. You sound unhinged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a troll post.

Even if it isn't, I don't think the subject's business discussed in an anonymous forum.

Agree. OP didn’t respond to why the race of the student is featured in the thread name. OP wants people to think that blacks cheat and that liberals are ok with that. Fake post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did he ask you for money in the facebook message? Sounds like a scam.

No. He isn't sure what to and I don't even know where to begin to try and help. I'm stuck on such a wealthy university even doing something so cruel and what motivates such a punishment after they set a trap to pick off low-hanging fruit (with secret stalking software to catch him cheating on an assignment). The teen boy needs tutors, mentors, and access to campus resources. Instead a college with tens of billions of dollars made him homeless in a city with violent crime and overdoses at historic highs. This is suppose to, what, teach him a lesson? In addition to being homeless, he lost his university health care. Maybe he can get diagnosed with cancer before they let him come back, that'll really teach him a lesson. I'm sorry, this is all so disgusting.

You are way overreacting and catastrophizing. You are not going to be helpful with this attitude. He needs to contact the university, explain the circumstances, and ask for a meeting or a hearing.

But blaming the university for his cheating is absurd. Anti-cheating software, however obnoxious, is in widespread use in high schools and colleges, and the fact of its existence is not a secret. He cheated. He got caught. He skipped the meeting to discuss it. (And this is all assuming you're even getting the whole story.) They aren't trying to entrap students -- no one made him cheat, or tricked him into cheating. No one made him skip the meeting. Acting like it's some kind of nefarious conspiracy to destroy him is both silly and counterproductive. Because if he doesn't take responsibility, he's not going to get far in terms of persuading the administration to reduce the suspension.

You contend nobody in the room or however such decisions are finalized suspected with near certainty or knew for a fact (based on his file) this was an unsophisticated destitute minority student with access to zero resources? Nonsense. Getting caught in this fashion alone, plus name, home city, high school, photo(?), written confession, and not showing for the interrogation, it is clear as day this was a humiliated and terrified Black boy born into urban poverty. They all knew.

No, I doubt they did. Academic office is not connected to student life or finance.

OP, if his admission was sent on to Academic office, it is likely because his cheating was so egregious that policy dictated it. Often professors can deal with small issues between us and the student, but when I have had a student cut/paste together an entire paper from various online sources and with no citation, it gets forwarded to the academic office. Admission is a good way to start, and the professor sending this along is likely trying to help him in his meeting, but he never attended.

So, if you want to help this kid, stop blaming the professor and university with suggestions of "railroading." That is ridiculous. It's in the university's best interest for him to graduate. Help him reach out to the office and demonstrate remorse and a willingness to lear, work and grow. He made this situation by cheating and than failing to attend the meeting. No one did that to him. But he may need help addressing it and showing his good intentions, so quit trash talking people you don't know on this board and help him reach out to the university!

Also, is anyone else bothered that OP keeps referring to this kid as "Black boy?" Isn't he a young man with at least a year of college under his belt?

[Anonymous]

I don't see where this is a big deal. There are jobs everywhere right now. Pick up a couple of jobs and couch surf life everyone else.

Businesses are desperate to hire.

[Anonymous]

I’m not reading all these dumb pages. OP, are you going to let the kid live with you? How far does your empathy and outrage stretch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: At this point, you are aware of the young man's circumstances. Why not assist him in getting housing and a job ?

With respect to the punishment received, maybe the young man can get the school to grant him a hearing in mitigation of the punishment as the student is not contesting the charge of cheating. Try to get the school to agree to remove this incident from the student's permanent record if he completes his degree requirements without further cheating infractions / offenses.

Advise the young man to act like a responsible young adult by accepting responsibility without blaming others and asking the school for a reconsideration of the disciplinary decision.

But, first, ask the young man whether he had any prior disciplinary actions against him while at this school. Tell him that embarrassment is not a defense and it is not a strategy.

He forwarded me an email chain. It appears he fessed up to the professor immediately. The professor immediately used the confession in writing to turn him into administration. It is clear that the professor was pretending to be an on his side "good cop" to bait him to confess. The professor then used this confession to help railroad him. I am sure all of the rich white, Asian and Indian PhDs I see CCd on the email chain feel really big and smug taking down a destitute Black teenager.

OMG. You are like a parody of some conservative’s imagining of a “woke liberal”. You cannot be real. The rich Indian PhD probably was the child of an immigrant who may have had very little in the way of family wealth. The person you assumed was a rich white person because their name was Dr. Melissa Edwards (making up something) might very well have been black. How do you know?

And regardless, they are there to enforce academic integrity. Nobody is trying to “trap” him. He knows he shouldn’t be cheating.

It is good that he fessed up to the prof. He should have continued to follow up and resolve the issue to the best of his ability. He can still do so. He (and you) have to be clear he was in the wrong but asking for a second chance. Ignore all your rage about the system etc. it is true he would have been better off with a parent who knows this world a little better. But in the absence of that, he has to navigate this on his own. This young man has a great opportunity ahead of him to really set his life on a different path from where he came. This is a hiccup and he paying the price for being young and dumb. But he can make the price more affordable and he can graduate. Someday he can sit in judgement as one of those “rich PhDs” if he wants to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like he’s not cut out for the Ivy League. This may be a blessing in disguise. If he was smart enough to be excepted, then he should be smart enough to navigate a way forward. Join the military.

There you go, OP. Food and shelter provided. Problem solved. Bless your bleeding heart.

The military likes to hire smart kids who have attended Ivy League schools.

[Anonymous]

There are consequences for cheating. It has nothing to do with race.

[Anonymous]

Why are DCUM posters so gullible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did he ask you for money in the facebook message? Sounds like a scam.

No. He isn't sure what to and I don't even know where to begin to try and help. I'm stuck on such a wealthy university even doing something so cruel and what motivates such a punishment after they set a trap to pick off low-hanging fruit (with secret stalking software to catch him cheating on an assignment). The teen boy needs tutors, mentors, and access to campus resources. Instead a college with tens of billions of dollars made him homeless in a city with violent crime and overdoses at historic highs. This is suppose to, what, teach him a lesson? In addition to being homeless, he lost his university health care. Maybe he can get diagnosed with cancer before they let him come back, that'll really teach him a lesson. I'm sorry, this is all so disgusting.

OP, did you read what I wrote about the software? It's no secret, and students are aware that it scans submissions for plagiarized text. It's not a "trap." It's a means to help prevent cheating which is the antithesis of learning. He did this to himself, and it must have been a significant display of academic dishonesty to trigger a university disciplinary meeting.

You are making this disgusting with you soap operatic distortions. Stop blaming. Start helping. Encourage him to try to reset that appointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did he ask you for money in the facebook message? Sounds like a scam.

No. He isn't sure what to and I don't even know where to begin to try and help. I'm stuck on such a wealthy university even doing something so cruel and what motivates such a punishment after they set a trap to pick off low-hanging fruit (with secret stalking software to catch him cheating on an assignment). The teen boy needs tutors, mentors, and access to campus resources. Instead a college with tens of billions of dollars made him homeless in a city with violent crime and overdoses at historic highs. This is suppose to, what, teach him a lesson? In addition to being homeless, he lost his university health care. Maybe he can get diagnosed with cancer before they let him come back, that'll really teach him a lesson. I'm sorry, this is all so disgusting.

You are way overreacting and catastrophizing. You are not going to be helpful with this attitude. He needs to contact the university, explain the circumstances, and ask for a meeting or a hearing.

But blaming the university for his cheating is absurd. Anti-cheating software, however obnoxious, is in widespread use in high schools and colleges, and the fact of its existence is not a secret. He cheated. He got caught. He skipped the meeting to discuss it. (And this is all assuming you're even getting the whole story.) They aren't trying to entrap students -- no one made him cheat, or tricked him into cheating. No one made him skip the meeting. Acting like it's some kind of nefarious conspiracy to destroy him is both silly and counterproductive. Because if he doesn't take responsibility, he's not going to get far in terms of persuading the administration to reduce the suspension.

You contend nobody in the room or however such decisions are finalized suspected with near certainty or knew for a fact (based on his file) this was an unsophisticated destitute minority student with access to zero resources? Nonsense. Getting caught in this fashion alone, plus name, home city, high school, photo(?), written confession, and not showing for the interrogation, it is clear as day this was a humiliated and terrified Black boy born into urban poverty. They all knew.

This is so racist.

[Anonymous]

OP, you should help the student transfer to a CTCL school.

[Anonymous]

I just want to flag that sadly, this kind of punishment is often a de facto expulsion. Most elite schools make you re-apply if you’re away two semesters, and they often refuse to accept people back. Yale is particularly notorious for not re-admitting students who take leave for mental health issues. Parents often have to get lawyers involved. I gather that will not be an option here, so the student needs to start planning how they will make a case for re-admission and/or what other options they have.

[Anonymous]

He shouldn’t have cheated but I also think he’s being punished more than a kid from a connected wealthy background. Why do I say that? Because I know of more than one case of kids from affluent and connected backgrounds cheating (some more than once), getting caught, and all getting off or a slap on the wrist. Two kids got caught cheating in the same way twice.

Look at Trump. He’s gotten away with stuff for decades. Money and connections protect people. I grew up working class. I went to a highly competitive college with an honor code and eventually earned two advanced degrees. I never cheated but I did experience feeling like I was surrounded by people who were operating by different rules and customs and they were all given the rule book but I wasn’t. Contact the school with him. There has to be someone who might be willing to help. How egregious was his cheating. Is his punishment disproportionate to that given to other students for the same or more serious transgression. Knowing how Ivies and elite institutions work, they are probably not treating everyone equally. If that’s the case, they may have a case for reinstatement.

[Anonymous]

I just want to flag that sadly, this kind of punishment is often a de facto expulsion. Most elite schools make you re-apply if you’re away two semesters, and they often refuse to accept people back. Yale is particularly notorious for not re-admitting students who take leave for mental health issues.

Just not true. A suspension for a set period of time means you have a right to return when the time is up. A leave of absence, especially for mental health reasons, is an entirely different thing.