Do You Have Some Grey Poupon?
Perhaps the only thing that’s really surprising in this recently exposed scandal are the eye popping amounts of money involved. That the parents would pay such usurious sums to enroll their progeny into a name brand school reveals at least 2 things. First, that there is too much money available to these people and secondly, the kids have to be real dummies in order to need this level of enrollment help. It’s one thing to be a C student in math, but according to the stories, entire resumes were fabricated in order to nudge the darlings ahead of other qualified candidates. This is essentially affirmative action for rich but dumb people.
People with a grip on reality know that this protocol has been around since….forever. There was probably someone taking bribes to get onto the Ark as the waters were rising. Anyone who’s ever stood in line to get into a restaurant or night club knows that the process can be skipped by slipping some currency into the hands of the gatekeepers. (As an aside, that’s why you always need cash, it’s not that easy to bribe someone with a debit card)
No, the reason for the shock and outrage is the fact that the people endlessly preaching sanctimony to the public about equality, tolerance and diversity are the very ones that are parties to the perpetuation of the policies of exclusion. To be clear, institutions and people should have the prerogative to do as they wish with their own institutions. But at the very least, be honest about it.
If you are one of these vaunted academic institutions, just advertise that you only take people who either; pass some level of academic competency, are good at a kid’s sport, or be wealthy enough to get a coveted space in the lecture halls. Admit that diversity really isn’t that important and that you are really only interested in making money. That way, at least people will know to which institutions they really want to send their kids. Maybe these schools should issue prospectuses as they do in the stock business wherein they issue a phone book sized document with plenty of fine print legal mumbo jumbo about risks.
Regardless, it’s become clear that the value of a degree received from many of the heretofore august educational institutions have no bearing at all to the cost involved in achieving them. Certainly not as measured by employability. Does one really need a degree in advanced gender studies from USC to be a Starbucks barista or to be a You Tube star when a simple junior college diploma will do? Let’s not kid ourselves; a primary reason that people push their kids to get into top level schools is so they can have them mix with the scions of the wealthy and famous. You get to mix with the cool kids.
Spoon feeding the children of the rich and famous to get into the best schools and the best clubs is a privilege accorded to those that have reached success in their lives. It’s like the old joke about what is the best way to catch fish. Answer; have someone throw it to you. This we can expect. What we don’t like are those same groups telling us that it ain’t so.
Update: a revelation from an hired enabler