Christian Union: The Magazine Summer 2017 | Page 49

H A RVA RD | On Campus
Socially Unacceptable
HARVARD RE SCINDS ADMISSIONS AF TER OFFENSIVE MEME S
By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer
A
ative posts, Harvard’s admissions office
asked the students to submit explana-
tions of their actions, according to The
Boston Globe. A spokeswoman told the
newspaper the university reserves the
right to rescind admissions offers for
a variety of reasons, including behavior
that calls to question individual “hon-
esty, maturity, or moral character.”
Like other colleges, Harvard also
has a policy of revoking acceptances
if an applicant’s grades plunge or if a
youth does not graduate high school.
In this case, screenshots of some of
the content revealed students mocking
scinded if their grades drop signifi-
cantly, so why shouldn’t they be held
to honor and morality?” said Cal-
deron-Payne, executive director at
Urban Youth Alliance International
and BronxConnect.
In early June, the Crimson broke
the news after interviews with some
of the high school seniors who par-
ticipated in the Facebook group for
the class of 2021. After that introduc-
tion, a cluster of students joined a
chat to share memes about popular
culture, and eventually, a subset cre-
ated a splinter group to exchange
Screenshots of some of the content revealed students
mocking racial and religious minorities, sexual assault,
and child abuse.
explicit messages.
In that group, students posted
images mocking sexual assault, the
Holocaust, and the deaths of children.
Some of the messages joked that abus-
ing children was sexually arousing,
while others directed punchlines at
racial groups.
Harvard students expressed mixed
reactions to the Crimson about the
university’s actions. Still, most seemed
to welcome the penalties.
“I appreciate humor, but there are
so many topics that just should not
be joked about,” Jessica Zhang ’21
said via e-mail to the Crimson. “I re-
spect the decision of the admissions
officers to rescind the offers because
those actions really spoke about the
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racial and religious minorities, sexual
assault, and child abuse. The incoming
pupils, at least temporarily, dubbed one
chat session as “Harvard memes for
horny bourgeois teens,” according The
Harvard Crimson.
The university’s admissions depart-
ment set up the “official” Facebook
group of the class of 2021, but dis-
avowed responsibility for “unofficial”
groups, according to the Crimson.
Memes typically include audio or
video files, images, and blurbs.
Among alumni of leading institu-
tions, Rev. Wendy Calderon-Payne,
Brown ’89, echoed similar sentiments
to that of Green of Trail Life.
Typically, incoming students “are
told that their admissions can be re-
cross top-tier universities, some
alumni and students welcomed
a decision by Harvard University to
revoke acceptances to at least 10 in-
coming students after they posted
offensive, derogatory messages and
images in a Facebook group.
While reactions were mixed, sev-
eral alumni were quick to point to
the need for undergraduates to grasp
the expectations and selective nature
of enrollment at universities that typ-
ically graduate a high percentage of
the nation’s core leaders.
“All societies depend on a moral
code – shared values that govern be-
havior and define right and wrong,”
said Rob Green, Brown ’90, a nation-
al executive with Trail Life USA. “Har-
vard is right to hold students and
prospective students to an honor code.”
Trail Life is a Christian outdoor
adventure, character, and leadership
program for boys and young men.
Likewise, alumnus Paul Michal-
ski, an attorney, consultant, and Chris-
tian leader, expressed appreciation for
Harvard’s decision while also recog-
nizing the complex nature of the issues
surrounding free speech, especially in
collegiate settings.
“On the one hand, I believe
strongly that freedom of thought and
expression on college campuses is
critical,” said Michalski, Harvard ’83,
Law ’86. “On the other hand, I believe
a college has a right, and even a duty,
to maintain a civil environment,
where ideas can be expressed and de-
bated in a mature manner.”
After being alerted to the provoc-
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