Bribery, greed: All for a little bit of Ivy League

When I was in high school in the mid-1980s, I was in an honors program, which meant that we got to meet twice with a college guidance counselor instead of once for the other kids. He asked me what we could afford (not much) and what I was interested in doing. We narrowed the list to 7 schools -- one reach, 3 maybes, and 3 safety schools where I might get a scholarship. My mom told me that I needed to be responsible for my own applications but did pay for an SAT prep class. I'm guessing that I was probably in the higher end of being prepared for college.

Now, most of my friends going through the process engage with a service by sophomore year. It is really kind of crazy how competitive it has all become.

 

I don't think he is in over his head.
The AD at a high-profile school is like the football coach. The coach shakes hands and connects with boosters/donors. The assistant coaches do the work, coaching the players.
The AD connects with the boosters/donors and has competent staff to do the nuts and bolts work. In this case, the woman, Heinel, got too full of herself and screwed it up with her greed. The coach, Vavic, felt he could get away with anything and did so until this all came out.

 

Steve Lopes runs the SC athletic department.Probably makes more money that Swann does as well. (Swann does not need money) USC needs a name. Haden, Mike Garrett, someone to show up at golf outings, pall around with alums and tell stories. When the alums aren't giving enough or grumble too much - then he has to do stuff. Though Garrett actually did a lot of the administrative stuff - and still has at other colleges.

 

This is heartbreaking.

How do you repair the system?

Only 7 Black Students Got Into N.Y.’s Most Selective High School, Out of 895 Spots

 

I am SO GLAD I don't have to sweat over high school applications!

 

It’s a single test, race blind entrance exam. Highest scores get in.
Attempts to diversify the schools without touching the test have failed. Neither the expansion of free test prep for minority students nor a new plan to offer the specialized high school exam during the school day made a dent in the admissions numbers. 73.5% of the students at the school are Asian-American.
You also have to figure that most of the really rich in NYC send their kids to private school anyway.
The question becomes, do you want to have a color/race/gender neutral entrance requirement where everyone knows what the test subject is and the best grade gets in or do you want the smartest kids, but only in proportion to their demographic representation in the city? It’s makes for a situation where Asian kids who can’t get in score better than 80% of the non Asian kids who got in.

 

I was talking about this several pages ago about when I was involved in affirmative action; institutional barriers need to be recognized and credit given. Is a Black kid who takes 3 buses to school every day, who thinks a PBJ sandwich for lunch is something to long for every day, who comes from a single parent household with 3 younger siblings EVER going to have the same opportunity as the Asian/Caucasian kid, who goes to sleep in his own bed every night, gets driven to school every day, with two parents with advance degrees and who receives private tutoring every week?

Making admissions based solely on the "color-blind" test is ignoring institutional barriers. (In many instances the lower scoring kid will be more successful if given the opportunity at the HS).

Buat as my peers and I debated this during admissions, we noted that affirmative action was only a band-aid; by the time we're looking a this, the kids are already disadvantaged. We need to provide better parents, a better life and better school facilities for those disadvantaged when they start school and throughout their academic years. Lower class sizes is a tremendous start. HINT: More teachers is more important than a shiny new school.

 

Good PR team they've got there

 

Agreed for the most part

But if the Asian kids are going to the same schools or relatively same schools as the black and Hispanic kids, why should they be penalized. If you are talking about NYC public schools and factor out private school kids who test for admission to the best public schools, it becomes a microcosm of the world. Is a white kid from Brooklyn whose dad is a cop more advantaged than a black kid from the UES who dad is a corporate lawyer? It gets tricky in NYC. Lots of immigrants from all over the world. If anything, have each borough represented equitably.

 

I'm not talking about giving points to someone just because of their color. The racial identifier was just to let us know where they came from. If we had a Black student who did not explain what disadvantaged circumstances they faced (single parent, working, etc.) it didn't matter what their race was, it was excluded from further consideration.

As for penalized, I disliked that moniker. Yes effectively its keeping someone out, but every time any spot is filled, you penalize someone who doesn't get that spot.

Remember, in my thinking, this is not a "lesser" student, it is recognizing someone who has had disadvantages and recognizing that their outside achievements coupled with their traditional academic benchmarks qualifies them for admission.

 

Somebody found a way to say Obama is guilty of it, too.

https://www.americanthinker.com/art...arack_and_the_college_admissions_scandal.html

 

What the hell is heartbreaking about it? Either you are going to have a merit based system based on unimpeachable test scores or a system based on degrees of corruption. I am glad those 7 students will never have to endure the whispers of affirmative action.