Reply to SCOTUS outlaws race as college admissions factor

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is there anything particularly special about Harvard without the "legacy" special sauce?  Would the prestige, brilliant professors, mega donors, smart students etc. all still be drawn to Harvard without "legacy"?

The majority of the value proposition of Harvard to which people are drawn is grounded in centuries of "legacy", which becomes a mutually reinforcing virtuous circle when more talented people want to associate with the brand to reap their own benefits and then become a part of the brand themselves.

If you strip "legacy" from the Harvard value proposition (which is pretty much impossible to do), then you can probably get way better bang for your buck elsewhere. The ugly truth is that proximity to "legacy" is a lot of what you're paying for at Harvard.

If you remove all of the underserving rich, political or celebrity kids, princes, trust fund kids and the attendant donations, brand cache, visibility etc. that come with them and replace it with a strictly meritocratic system, would people still be clamoring for Harvard in the same way 50 years from now, when those people have decamped to another exclusive institution?

To be sure, a lot of legacies independently qualify on meritocratic grounds, but a bunch of others get their sh*t together way later in life and can go on to great success and prominence by banking on their relationships and connections that they would've had with or without Harvard.  
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Huh?  The legacy admits at these places are seen as that.  It's not exactly a particularly desired distinction as it clouds the impression as to why the student got admittance...kinda like athletic recruits.[/quote]

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