How Some People's Kids Get into University

Our hearts are all a' flutter and our ire has been raised by the revelation that a number of people, mainly in the USA, have been charged with either bribing or lying to get their kids into a university of their choice or else facilitating/receiving those bribes or lies. Not surprisingly, the amount of money paid seems to be substantial. Perhaps even less surprising is that the lies and bribes were not all that sophisticated or even clever. What is surprising is the fact that some people are shocked that rich people, people who are part of the elite, people who generally see themselves as not needing to follow the same rules as the rest of us - have done these things.

Surely it cannot be a surprise to anyone that the wealthy for well over a century have seen universities as the rightful place for their offspring to find their way into adulthood and hopefully maturity. While private universities such as Harvard or Yale were originally founded to provide education to ministers (Christian), they have long been a place where the elite go to meet others like themselves and to establish networks that will smooth their future paths. And there is nothing wrong with that. We would like to believe that universities are a place where young people go to have their minds expanded, the reality, however, is that that does not happen for the majority of students. Most of us, most of the time, end up hanging around with people who are like us, who have similar values and interests. University students whether they are attending a 150-year-old institution in the US or a British one that is 800 years old are no different than the rest of the population. We all spend our time with people with whom we are comfortable.

By lying or at least allowing lies to be told about their offspring or by bribing/buying a university spot, not only have those parents broken the law but they have also damaged the reputations of the institutions and I would hope, offended their peers who did not bend the rules. However, I would guess that as donating money to a university and then a child being accepted to that university is not an unusual event. It might cause some personal embarrassment but no one will really care. Such fraud is so common that a popular, long-running television show (Suits) has as a lead character, an individual who earned his living by taking university entrance tests for other people.

This most recent example of the elite paying to get additional, unearned privileges is just a reminder to the rest of us of how those elite maintain their status and their power within a society. It is a dangerous practice because every time someone uses their money or their status to purchase a place in a university class - it means that someone else, someone whose parents do not have access to hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase entrance into a university does not get in. Every time that happens, those that feel dispossessed, disenfranchised and isolated from the opportunities supposedly available to us all - are provided with another reason why there is no point in trying, that there is no reason to even pretend that they have a chance to succeed.

People giving up hope is never good for society.