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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The real shame here is that Farquhar agreed to admit this student knowing that he was not adequately prepared for Sidwell, but without taking any steps to put in place a support system from the outset.  Then he  -- and US administrators -- let the student flail through the year academically until the situation became sufficiently dire to warrant dismissal for academic failure.  Only when other students rallied for the student (yes, because he was a b-ball star, but also b/c he was their friend and they saw the situation as unfair) and parents got involved, did Farquahar show any kindness or compassion.  Now he's been able to spin it to look like he's the very model of Quakerism.  As for the students who were punished for drinking at the prom, who also had friends rally in support of them, it's my understanding that the punishments were severe.  In that case, Farquahar seems not to have seen any potential benefit to him in exercising mercy.         [/quote]

Just want to say that I don't see struggling academically and breaking a school rule by drinking at prom as being equivalent in the slightest degree.  Every school in this area suspends for drinking at the prom.  If a college rescinded, that is between that college and the applicant; a tough lesson for the student in question but I'm sure he/she ended up an an excellent college and might just have learned a lesson that they will value down the road.  The idea that a school is responsible when, after reasonable discipline, a college reacts negatively seems crazy to me; it also seems really odd that parents don't recognize that the short-term sharp lesson may be a great long-term learning experience.  If the "short-term sharp lesson" was a year in prison, I'd think differently, but losing a spot at a college when you've got many other options is not the end of the world.  [/quote]

+1000

And every academically elite school gives the old boot for failure to meet academic standards.  GDS does, Maret does, St. Albans does etc.    So do elite private schools across the country (Andover, Lawrenceville, Peddy, Harvard-Westlake, Phillips Exeter etc.).  Being kicked out for academic failure is also a "short-term sharp lesson".  So by you're logic this should be a good thing too.

If you believe that these short-term lessons yield long term gain and that the prom punishment was the right consequence, that is a defensible belief.  But, that you do not recognize the remarkable similarities between the two situations, especially under your logic, yields two options.  First, you are a hypocrite, willing to apply your logic in one situation but not the other.  Or, you do not recognize the similarity, and are, then, a complete moron.[/quote][/quote]

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