Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Slippery scope when we are allowing anonymous people tank college applications. Kids do and say awful things and then they grow up. Many of us have done things we now regret.
Too much glee on this thread and the reason is this kid’s politics. I am glad at least Sidwell addresses the issue of parents trying to hurt completion getting into college. I think this kid did a lot to improve himself and the idea that he cannot get in now is just a joke. Shame on Harvard.
maybe if he'd said he wanted to kill all of your ethnic group as a ha ha ha joke you'd feel differently
maybe if he'd said he wanted to kill all of your ethnic group as a ha
ha ha joke you'd feel differently
Anonymous wrote:So his words which were racist epithets and threats of violence fall under your idea that these should be 'free exchange of ideas'?
Where does it say that he threatened violence? I would not defend that. But, yes, racist speech is free speech and educational institutions that supposedly value the free exchange of ideas should protect it.
Anonymous wrote:It wasn't just racial slurs or "callous" remarks, it was also comments like "I WILL [EFFING] MAKE A CSOG MAP OF DOUGLAS AND PRACTICE Kill all the [EFFING] JEWS. [EFF] THE JEWS."
Anonymous wrote:Slippery scope when we are allowing anonymous people tank college applications. Kids do and say awful things and then they grow up. Many of us have done things we now regret.
Too much glee on this thread and the reason is this kid’s politics. I am glad at least Sidwell addresses the issue of parents trying to hurt completion getting into college. I think this kid did a lot to improve himself and the idea that he cannot get in now is just a joke. Shame on Harvard.
Anonymous wrote:How do you get a 5.4 gpa? Major inflation there
Anonymous wrote:Slippery scope when we are allowing anonymous people tank college applications. Kids do and say awful things and then they grow up. Many of us have done things we now regret.
Too much glee on this thread and the reason is this kid’s politics. I am glad at least Sidwell addresses the issue of parents trying to hurt completion getting into college. I think this kid did a lot to improve himself and the idea that he cannot get in now is just a joke. Shame on Harvard.
Anonymous wrote:Slippery scope when we are allowing anonymous people tank college applications. Kids do and say awful things and then they grow up. Many of us have done things we now regret.
Too much glee on this thread and the reason is this kid’s politics. I am glad at least Sidwell addresses the issue of parents trying to hurt completion getting into college. I think this kid did a lot to improve himself and the idea that he cannot get in now is just a joke. Shame on Harvard.
Anonymous wrote:So his words which were racist epithets and threats of violence fall under your idea that these should be 'free exchange of ideas'?
Where does it say that he threatened violence? I would not defend that. But, yes, racist speech is free speech and educational institutions that supposedly value the free exchange of ideas should protect it.
Anonymous wrote:Dig deep into this student's record. You will find that he is quite
mediocre and really not "Harvard-worthy". I think the real scandal is
there...
The article in the link in the first post claims that he had a 1550 SAT score and 5.4 GPA (how is that even possible?).
Assuming that this is true, his academic record seems to be very good, even by Harvard standards. It was clearly good enough for them to accept him the first time.
Certainly, Harvard can do what it wants, but this seems fairly heavy-handed for an institution that should be supporting free speech. Offensive speech deserves equal protection to inoffensive speech, and many of the ideas that we now accept as standard (for example, equal treatment for all, regardless of sex and race) began as radical ideas that many wanted to censor. I am not sure what the applicant in question actually said/wrote, and I likely would disagree with it, but I do feel strongly about the free exchange of ideas--even offensive ones--and the notion that this should be supported by universities and colleges.
So his words which were racist epithets and threats of violence fall under your idea that these should be 'free exchange of ideas'?
Anonymous wrote:Dig deep into this student's record. You will find that he is quite
mediocre and really not "Harvard-worthy". I think the real scandal is
there...
The article in the link in the first post claims that he had a 1550 SAT score and 5.4 GPA (how is that even possible?).
Assuming that this is true, his academic record seems to be very good, even by Harvard standards. It was clearly good enough for them to accept him the first time.
Certainly, Harvard can do what it wants, but this seems fairly heavy-handed for an institution that should be supporting free speech. Offensive speech deserves equal protection to inoffensive speech, and many of the ideas that we now accept as standard (for example, equal treatment for all, regardless of sex and race) began as radical ideas that many wanted to censor. I am not sure what the applicant in question actually said/wrote, and I likely would disagree with it, but I do feel strongly about the free exchange of ideas--even offensive ones--and the notion that this should be supported by universities and colleges.