I have seen the movie and maybe I didn’t get the humor, but I am Jewish and I just didn’t care for the movie. I thought it was in poor taste, but I am obviously in the minority since it did win numerous awards. It was, perhaps, not the best example but the point remains that joking about the Holocaust is every bit as offensive as joking about using an innocent child as a pinata and BOTH are inappropriate and should not be done.
I do agree with you that they don’t deserve to have their lives ruined. However, Harvard has made its (apparently) irrevocable decision and I hope that they turn it to a positive. As far as I can tell, the names of the offenders have not been published and this might give them a shot at starting over.
These students should not be allowed to any school unless they attend some council for their behavior. However, when I read the crimson news. I felt also that they only tried to explain what happened after and how they debated for a long time and used privacy as excuse not to comment.
What really happened? Has anyone asked that question? I see evidence of 2 racial group debating. Don’t we need to know the truth before we judge these students?
Harvard is a very liberal school, with recent political situations I’ve seen a spike of URM student being accepted this year with a jump from 4% to 25%. This happened this year with all Ivy League schools. Could this be the reason be one of the argument?
Harvard’s past history of putting Asian on a higher standard than any other groups of ethnicities. Accepting illegal alien applicants and provide 100% scholarship.
Can we find out the truth from both side before we jump to conclusion?
The ethnic percentages are very similar to last year’s class of 2020, almost identical exactly. I do like that it shows admissions officers (like all of us) make mistakes. There are people who think adcoms are flawless, make no mistakes and if you’re not accepted into an ivy, well you didn’t deserve it. Of course that is an untenable conclusion but it exists. I actually think that Harvard admission officers would be the first to admit they made a mistake with these applicants.
@doschicos you see why I said I want to know the truth with those Facebook memes and how it started? Just from my post alone your focus shifted from what really happened how it started to my URM statement. If it happens here it can happened there. Yes 4% is wrong but that was MITs statement this year. So like I said I believe this is what started the conversation and the meme on Facebook. Unless Harvard back up with actual evidence. I am saying let’s not judge unless we see both side and actual evidences
Your logic is nuts. You make an argument based on specious information then try to twist your error into supporting an erroneous supposition. Not buying it.
My focus only shifted because I call out BS info when I see it. I’m actually quite capable of following multiple trains of conversation simultaneously.
@Doschicos not trying to sell you anything. I openly admitted my false statement. I don’t need to twist anything. Are you saying you never make any mistakes? Oh and thank you for correcting my spelling. I can see that you never had a misspelled in your life. Don’t you see this is exactly why I said from my first post. Could this be a possibility on how the fight started. Take it or leave it this will be my last post on this topic. I’m not going on an endless debate off topic. Mic Dropped! Peace Out!
Although this was a private group, it was created by, and specifically for, members of the incoming class of 2021. This was not an existing group of friends making private jokes among themselves.
In order to join the offensive group kids had to post an offensive meme to the more general meme group. Can you imagine what it would be like to be an incoming Mexican freshman or a survivor of childhood sexual abuse finding these memes on a board where you’re supposed to be getting to know your new classmates? How safe would you feel coming to campus?
No one’s life is ruined by not attending Harvard. A surprising number of happy, productive citizens did not pass through H’s hallowed halls. (yes, sarcasm) These are bright kids who, after a a gap year and a little reflection, will be admitted to some other great school where they will receive an excellent education and go on with their lives, even if it is without an Ivy League education.
We can debate the morals of these kids but what I really question is their judgement. Any kid who thought it was funny to post racist memes on a forum to be read by their new classmates has a lot of growing up to do. No one ever guaranteed they’d get to do that maturation at Harvard.
That was an interesting drive-by. Start with a false premise using bad data and then proceed to be defensive when challenged with the false number. Again, where did Harvard do wrong to these kids? They’re being treated as adults and were given an opportunity to explain their actions. Adults take responsibility for their actions.
Jumping into this conversation late. To those who say their lives are now ruined. That’s a bit of an overstatement. And to those who say Harvard ruined their life. Again no- these kids are the ones responsible for any inconvenience they are now facing. As for character, these kids are probably not immoral monsters. But their actions were vile (and stupid) and by engaging in them, they ran the risk of consequences. They got caught and Harvard responded in the right way.
It seems H rescinded some and not all. Wonder what made the difference?
@NoVADad99 - Thanks for the term “imaginary leftists.” I knew we were in trouble when I saw the l-word, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it in the moment. I think I’ll start using that in other futile conversations with folks who like to pigeonhole people for advocating for basic civility and respect.
That said, I don’t want to derail this conversation with that debate, so carry on. And also: What @Sue22 and @Lindagaf and a lot of others said. And good for Harvard.
It doesn’t sound like Harvard was “monitoring” the online activity of accepted students. Who has time for that? If I understand this correctly, the activities of this particular group were brought to the attention of Harvard by someone, perhaps someone in the group who felt some had gone way over the line. They were presented with the evidence and proceeded to act upon it. It seems that Harvard did not just accept the initial accusations but gave the students the opportunity to respond.
Harvard made a very smart business decision. If it had enrolled these kids, whoever emailed the screen shots to the Admissions Office would have next emailed them to The Crimson or the Boston Globe. Suddenly, Harvard owns the problem of enrolling disgusting racists and has a major PR crisis. Instead, Harvard cut these losers loose and let them deal with the ramifications of their own racism - finding a new school late in the process. They made their bed. let them lie in it. No reason for Harvard to get in that bed alongside these idiots.
Put it another way - if anyone of these people had attached one of these memes to their application, would they have been admitted? Of course not. So why allow them to enroll after they let their mask drop to reveal their true selves?
“Among the students who lost their seats at Harvard College is the daughter of major donors to the university, according to correspondence reviewed by the Globe.”
