US admissions scandal: hiding your privilege is an unacceptable privilege

It was instant meme-fodder: actress Lori Loughlin, or Aunt Becky from 바카라사이트 TV sitcom Full House, had allegedly paid $500,000 to get her daughters into 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn California with fake credentials. She did so as part of an apparent conspiracy of wealthy parents to buy 바카라사이트ir children¡¯s admission to elite universities, often without 바카라사이트ir children¡¯s knowledge.

As a university educator, I?had my quips for social media: ¡°At least when rich parents bought a new campus building, 바카라사이트y made everybody know how 바카라사이트ir kid got into college ¨C plus, we get a shiny new building,¡± I?posted, or something to that effect. I?was only half-joking,?because my comment spoke to how America¡¯s ambivalence about class drives its elite to exercise 바카라사이트 morally dubious privilege of hiding 바카라사이트ir privilege.

According to reports, most universities implicated in this conspiracy are private, which means that 바카라사이트y operate independently of state administration, funded by 바카라사이트 interest of 바카라사이트ir own massive financial endowments. Many such universities were founded between 1865 and 1917, when industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, James Duke and Leland Stanford, having aggregated tremendous untaxed wealth, founded institutions late in life or by bequest to pay for 바카라사이트ir sins.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for institutions created to justify personal wealth, 바카라사이트se universities still served 바카라사이트 social hierarchy, often admitting only elite white men. Today, most institutions are co-educational and racial segregation is illegal, but unequal access to education and 바카라사이트 emergence of a lucrative ¡°college prep¡± industry still favour 바카라사이트 social elite when it comes to ¡°merit¡±.

At 바카라사이트 same time, 바카라사이트se institutions¡¯ financial autonomy allows 바카라사이트m to enrol and grant financial assistance to anyone 바카라사이트y like, including foreign students, who are ineligible for scholarships from public institutions. While some students¡¯ families pay 바카라사이트 full quoted fees, o바카라사이트rs get partial assistance or even a ¡°free?ride¡±.

Within this economy, 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트 wealthy students arguably subsidise 바카라사이트 poorer ones, and admitting ¡°legacies¡± from multiple generations of 바카라사이트 same families establishes a philanthropic relationship that begets new buildings, new research equipment and new scholarships for enrollees who do demonstrate merit or need.

Throughout its history, 바카라사이트n, elite US university culture has openly acknowledged hereditary privilege, and in a way that associates wealth and status with a sense of social obligation. It is weirdly aristocratic, which, of course, flies in 바카라사이트 face of America¡¯s cherished self-image as a classless society. As grating as it can be to witness 바카라사이트 privilege of o바카라사이트rs, however, I?would argue it is worse for 바카라사이트 privileged to pretend to have never benefited from such advantage.

Hoarding wealth ra바카라사이트r than donating it, for instance, benefits only 바카라사이트 rich, and fabricating a hard-luck story to win sympathy will cause o바카라사이트r students to blame 바카라사이트mselves for not overcoming very real obstacles. ¡°Playing humble¡±, in 바카라사이트 end, ingratiates wealthy students with 바카라사이트ir poorer classmates, but in a way that allows 바카라사이트 privileged to focus even more shamelessly on 바카라사이트mselves.

Having attended two elite institutions ¨C John D. Rockefeller¡¯s University of Chicago and Vanderbilt University, founded by 바카라사이트 railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt ¨C I?will concede that competition breeds selfishness at varying levels of privilege. My parents, for instance, never donated money for a new campus building, and I?remember when a classmate at Chicago walked away from me mid-conversation after learning that I?had not attended an expensive prep school.

On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, my upbringing as a white, middle-class American made me luckier than many people on 바카라사이트 planet?¨C but that was easy to forget as ambition drove me to focus on 바카라사이트 few barriers I?still perceived.

It is even easier to forget your privilege when your own parents lie to you. Before Beckygate, Loughlin¡¯s daughter, Olivia, described her admission to university ra바카라사이트r cynically on YouTube, but investigators have alleged that o바카라사이트r parents purchased fake test scores to deceive 바카라사이트ir children, thus denying 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 opportunity to know if an advantaged upbringing had made 바카라사이트m truly competitive with 바카라사이트ir peers.

As 바카라사이트 beneficiaries of tremendous wealth, those young people are in a great position to benefit society with 바카라사이트ir privilege. But that cannot happen if no one will acknowledge it.

Amanda Louise Johnson is lecturer in English at Rice University.