Harvard just rescinded their offer of admission to Kyle Kashuv due to racist remarks he made in a couple of years ago. The material I read was shocking and I understand why some people have chosen to cut ties with him and refuse to accept his apology. If he were in his mid-20s when he wrote these things, I would have a much harder time looking past them, but he was 16, which means he wrote these things before the shooting took place at his school. No one should have their lives ruined because of something they said when they were 16. One has to think that his experience of dealing with the massacre at his school and the time he has spent since in the public eye has had an effect and he has grown as a result.
The irony of this turn of events is amazing considering that Harvard is currently embroiled in a lawsuit where they are being accused of discriminating against Asian students and holding them to a different standard than students of other ethnic backgrounds. Now they have the temerity to say to Kyle Kashuv you’re too much of a racist to attend our university.
Does Harvard think that they have never admitted racists? Do they think that all of the 18-year-olds they have admitted have never said or done anything stupid or made racist remarks? Were the members of the committee who made this decision perfect? Did any of them ever say or write anything stupid when they were 16? Of course they did. What they are doing by rescinding his admission is setting a standard that is impossible for anyone maintain. Teenagers are notorious for making bad decisions. Bad decisions in the digital age are preserved for eternity for anyone to find and weaponize. I suggest we set our sights on the dean of Harvard admissions William Fitzsimmons and dig up every letter, article, essay, email he ever wrote to see if they can withstand the scrutiny that Harvard applied toward Kyle Kashuv.