I agree with Hanna. I think the ‘hate crime’ aspect will be dropped because it will be hard to prove it was against a person, done to threaten anyone or any group of people.
But unbelievably stupid.
What is the scoop on campus? My S’s gf is a current NU senior and she’s coming over our house this week for the first time so I’ll ask what she knows.
Isn’t @calicash a freshman there?
If it was a sort of attempt to impress fraternities like @Hanna said, these kids should have know better that such acts would give them even bigger middle fingers when they get interviews for jobs in the future
First, Latinos from many different originating nationalities have been in areas constituting the Continental 48 states for centuries. Some have had a presence in those areas which predate the founding of the US. Some may have completely assimilated into the dominant White communities over the decades/century+ after those areas became part of the US.
Also, Latinos who were part of more recent immigration waves aren’t one monolithic community and have some divisions depending on originating nationality and/or social class. For instance, with the exception of a few Cubans who were part of the generation who fled Castro’s revolution*, the Latinos in my old neighborhood…including many Vietnam War veterans tended to be quite varied in their politics.
- This generation tends to be staunchly conservative and known to be reliable GOP supporters by scholars of American politics and political consultants working for political parties/campaigns.
Is one of the parents a big shot judge?
I am surprised that Northwestern put these kids in the legal system as opposed to offering them a quiet option to quit and start over somewhere else. It brings unwanted spotlight to the school. Meanwhile established schools are throwing things under the rug for lot worse crimes (if proven) by expelling the students based on the recent headline.
^^ If Northwestern did as you suggested they would be vilified as being “soft” on these kids because of who their parents are.
That would NOT be the kid of publicity NU would like. Better to kick out 2 stupid kids who did something that is not only against state law but repugnant to anyone who claims to be educated, than keep them and face the rath of thousands of NU students, faculty and alumni as well as the general public.
I don’t think you are reading my statement correctly and it has nothing to do with the parents.
The whole case reflects on NW poorly at this point since I don’t know these kids from Tom and Dick on the street but I value NW’s name a lot more. The school could have chosen a quieter option since it is school property, and the damage done is a mostly a repaint job (the estimate was greater than 300). The fact that it is in the news in middle of an admission’s cycle makes parents wonder if NW is admitting the right students.
If expelled they will likely end up at a peer school next year if their dads are well off and can pull strings.
To what established schools are you referring? I don’t understand your comment.
He could have easily been a Bernie/Hillary supporter but wanted to ‘blame’ Trump supporters for the deed…assuming that there was no video tape, of course. 
@Cobrat -
The far right leanings of many Cuban-Americans is due to the first hand exposure to the socialist system that many on today’s political left espouse.
As for these Northwestern brats, the school would probably have liked to sweep things under the rug and quietly expelled them, but once the story broke, that was impossible. As for their motive, the idea that this is a false flag operation and meant to discredit Trump supporters is just as believable at this point as any other potential motive.
I went to HS with one of the students and have to say that i’m completely shocked. I would only assume that this was done in a joking manner, but hard to believe that they’d take a joke this far. As for the Trump thing, i would have to say that he is probably one of the last people who’d i’d ever expect to vote or support Trump.
texaspg,
that’s another way of looking at it.
With either course, NW does not come out smelling like a rose. It’s a lose- lose proposition.
But in light of the current political atmosphere, particularly in Ill, I think they took the high road and popped the political blister, so to speak, rather than let it fester.
These kids took this entirely on themselves by pulling such a bonehead, ignoramus stunt. Being students at NW is really besides the point.
I dont think it reflects poorly on NW, since kids at any elite U are not inherently "immunized " against acting stupidly just because they were admitted.
“If expelled they will likely end up at a peer school next year if their dads are well off and can pull strings.”
If only it were that easy…being rich is not enough to get you power to pull strings at Vandy, Cornell, etc.
Texaspg, you clearly don’t value it all that much as it’s NU, not NW.
Alice Millar is a particularly meaningful place on campus. Having actually been there on numerous occasions, I find it hard to believe that it’s merely a cheap clean-up job. There are stained glass windows, antique woods, etc. it’s also rented out for weddings, etc and there might be loss of revenue while the repairs take place. Of course it’s embarrassing for NU but that shouldn’t prevent them from doing the right thing - which is pursue it through the courts and suspend (until they presumably expel). The greater embarrassment would be for them to look the other way and send a signal that a) vandalism and b) racial slurs are acceptable. In an era where people are sensitive to microaggressions, racial and similar slurs painted on a building are more macro on the aggression scale.
@menloparkmom - Our whole family went and visited last year about this time. My D is part of the current admission cycle and she refused to withdraw after she got an admission elsewhere where we would rather have her go to school. As a parent I am of two minds about this. 1. I want schools to be little more forgiving of students who don’t hurt someone else and willing to make things go away and not be in national news, 2. Take some action against students like expelling to show they are strict so other kids don’t pull similar stunts.
@GnocchiB You should go check out other named school threads in CC. There is a headline about expelling someone in one of the school threads.
Not that I care whether or not he’s a Drumpf supporter, but I’d be careful with statements like this. It’s possible that he’s Spanish (for all intents and purposes, white), not Latino, for one. Second, many of us have surnames that have just been passed down and do not match our cultural identification. (ie I have an Irish O’Irish name but you have to go back 5 generations before you actually get to someone fully Irish in my family. No one in my family really identifies as Irish. We’re much more German/Jewish than anything else on the O’Irish side.)
A peer school might be willing to cut slack for middling grades or a minor drinking offense, but not for something as toxic as this.
NU can limit any damage by acting swiftly, which I’m sure Mort will do. Take the high road now and show the world that hooligans, even smart ones that perform really stupid acts, will not be tolerated.