One of at least 10 high school graduates whose acceptance into Harvard University was rescinded before the start of this academic year because he had posted offensive memes on Facebook is speaking out.
The would-be freshman, who posted a blog message under the pseudonym ‘Stannis_B’, wrote on Monday that his parents were furious over his removal from the prestigious university and that he fears for his future job prospects as a result of the administration’s decision to withdraw its acceptance.
‘My initial response was to blame Harvard, the founders of the offensive group chat, and the original posters who prompted me to post for what happened,’ Stannis_B wrote.
‘Now I realize that I must take full responsibility for my actions if I wish to turn my life around.
‘Was Harvard in line for rescinding my acceptance? I don’t know. I wish it didn’t happen the way it did, but what’s done is done.’
He wrote on Monday that before the scandal he was safely on the road to a lucrative career in investment banking.
One of at least 10 high school graduates whose acceptance into Harvard University (whose campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts is seen above) was rescinded before the start of this academic year because he had posted offensive memes on Facebook is speaking out
Now, he is not so sure.
‘I’ve wanted a career in investment banking for years now, but I’m afraid this bump in the road may hinder my future chances of landing an offer,’ he wrote.
‘Luckily, Harvard has kept the individual students anonymous, but I’m afraid I might have to disclose this on my future college applications.’
Stannis_B wrote that he is not currently enrolled in a college or university since he didn’t apply to any other institution.
‘Since I was accepted to Harvard early action (as an athlete), I didn’t apply to any other schools, and have had no backup college to enroll in for the next year,’ he wrote.
Stannis_B expressed disappointment that Harvard decided to punish him and the other incoming freshmen because of messages that were posted in private forums.
‘The argument I keep hearing is that “Harvard College reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission under various conditions including if an admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character.”
‘But my problem with their decision was that it was just banter in a private peer group. Private,’ he wrote.
That group was called ‘Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens’ – but the jokes weren’t dirty enough for some members, who decided to start an offshoot group for more ‘R-rated’ posts. In order to gain acceptance into that group, the founders demanded that students post provocative memes in the first group.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell my parents, but the next morning, it was all over the news, and as soon as my parents brought it up, I fell apart
According to screenshots of some of the posts obtained by the Harvard Crimson, the memes posted in the smaller group included ‘images mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, and the deaths of children’.
‘Some of the messages joked that abusing children was sexually arousing, while other had punchlines directed at specific ethnic or racial groups,’ the Crimson reported. ‘One called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child “piñata time.”’
Admissions Office officials found out about the Facebook page in mid-April, and began contacting the students involved over email, demanding that they disclose every picture that they sent the group and provide a statement explaining themselves.
Stannis_B wrote that he broke down emotionally when he was forced to tell his parents that he was one of the students who would not be allowed to attend Harvard.
‘They were livid,’ he wrote of his parents’ reaction.
When he learned of Harvard’s decision to revoke his acceptance, he said: ‘I felt like my whole world had been shattered.’
‘I couldn’t bring myself to tell my parents, but the next morning, it was all over the news, and as soon as my parents brought it up, I fell apart,’ he wrote.
‘At first they thought I was joking, but after about 10 seconds, they knew it was for real.’
Stannis_B wrote that because he has a number of family members who are Harvard alumni, the ordeal was particularly difficult.
‘They said I was a disappointment (I somewhat agree),’ he wrote.
‘Anyway, I’m just trying to move on now, and turn this failure into a positive.’
Nearly 40,000 students applied to Harvard’s Class of 2021, and only 2,056 – or 5.2 per cent – were accepted.