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[MMarston]

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/6/5/2021-offers-rescinded-memes/

Harvard College rescinded admissions offers to at least ten prospective members of the Class of 2021 after the students traded sexually explicit memes and messages that sometimes targeted minority groups in a private Facebook group chat.
A handful of admitted students formed the messaging group—titled, at one point, “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens”—on Facebook in late December, according to two incoming freshmen. In the group, students sent each other memes and other images mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, and the deaths of children, according to screenshots of the chat obtained by The Crimson. Some of the messages joked that abusing children was sexually arousing, while others had punchlines directed at specific ethnic or racial groups. One called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child “piñata time.”

After discovering the existence and contents of the chat, Harvard administrators revoked admissions offers to at least ten participants in mid-April, according to several members of the group. University officials have previously said that Harvard’s decision to rescind a student’s offer is final. College spokesperson Rachael Dane wrote in an emailed statement Saturday that “we do not comment publicly on the admissions status of individual applicants.”

The chat grew out of a roughly 100-member messaging group that members of the Class of 2021 set up in early December to share memes about popular culture. Admitted students found and contacted each other using the official Harvard College Class of 2021 Facebook group.

Employees in the Admissions Office emailed students who posted offensive memes in mid-April asking them to disclose every picture they sent over the group, according to one member of the chat whose admission offer was revoked. The student spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be publicly identified with the messages.

“The Admissions Committee was disappointed to learn that several students in a private group chat for the Class of 2021 were sending messages that contained offensive messages and graphics,” reads a copy of the Admissions Office’s email obtained by The Crimson. “As we understand you were among the members contributing such material to this chat, we are asking that you submit a statement by tomorrow at noon to explain your contributions and actions for discussion with the Admissions Committee.”

“It is unfortunate that I have to reach out about this situation,” the email reads.

The anonymous student also said that administrators informed implicated students that their admissions status was under review and instructed them not to come to Visitas, Harvard’s annual weekend of programming for prospective freshmen held at the end of April. Roughly a week later, at least ten members of the group chat received letters informing them that their offers of admission had been withdrawn.

Good on Harvard for booting these people out. Remember kids -- you being a smart ass won't matter if you put a way larger emphasis on the 'ass' part of yourself.

I wonder what their folks must feel about this.

 

[BronsonLee]

wtf I'd deny all that shit
I was hacked
Fake account
My father did it
etc etc etc

 

[Linkura]

Saw this posted on Facebook. Fantastic news and good on Harvard.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

I wonder what their folks must feel about this.

It's just locker room talk!

 

[joe2187]

Meme Magic!

 

[kirblar]

F'ing hell, when I was in school the worst thing we shared was Newgrounds links and that drug dealing game on your calculator.

 

[Escape Goat]

Smart enough to go to Harvard, not rich enough to stay.

 

[liquidtmd]

 

[Emwitus]

Not good enough for harvard, but Good enough to be president of the united states.


Don't you fret kids.


SMH america

 

[Deepwater]

Taking bets on how many pages we get to before someone brings up free speech

 

[Leona Lewis]

I bet their parents were so excited to finally have their hellspawn out of the house.

I'd make them take a gap year in the shed.

 

[Slayven]

Folks got to learn the internet is real life now

 

[adamsapple]

A handful of admitted students formed the messaging group—titled, at one point, ”Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens"—on Facebook in late December, according to two incoming freshmen. In the group, students sent each other memes and other images mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, and the deaths of children, according to screenshots of the chat obtained by The Crimson. Some of the messages joked that abusing children was sexually arousing, while others had punchlines directed at specific ethnic or racial groups. One called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child ”piñata time."

Jesus Christ .. what the fuck is wrong with these kids ..

 

[Htown]

Taking bets on how many pages we get to before someone brings up free speech

Less than 60 posts from here.

 

[Skellig Gra]

 

[Stinkles]

Consequences.

Stings, doesn't it? You dumb shits.

 

[Akuun]

Good on Harvard. Don't need to be associated with those jackasses.

 

[Eumi]

People really need to understand that group chats aren't some kind of magical pocket dimension where nothing can hurt you. Glad Harvard made them face consequences for this stuff.

 

[Spladam]

They were just exercising their free speech, totally robbed.

 

[sfedai0]

How I wish I was the one that blew the whistle on them and then watched them get kicked out. Glorious.

 

[Deepwater]

I bet their parents were so excited to finally have their hellspawn out of the house.

I'd make them take a gap year in the shed.

It's probably learned behavior tbh

 

[HotHamBoy]

Just remember, for every cockroach you see there's a thousand more you don't see.

This is just 10 kids who happened to get exposed for the shitbags they are. Plenty more just like them will still be attending Harvard, etc.

Also, it fucking sucks that we lost the war on the proper definition and application of the word "meme. "

 

[Horns]

Dummies. You still can run as a Republican though. In fact, this might help your chances.

 

[Rumblebones]

Good.

 

[BriGuy]

Too bad Trump University went belly up.

 

[Syriel]

Taking bets on how many pages we get to before someone brings up free speech

Harvard is not the government, so not sure why you think that would apply here?

This is bascially a private party to private party contract.

The kids have free speech. Harvard has the freedom to not associate with them based on their speech.

 

[Hari Seldon]

My brain cannot comprehend how fucking stupid these idiots must be to post this shit at all, let alone non-anonymously. I knew a dude from my HS who had a full ride to a military academy and his offer got rescinded when he got in trouble after getting a BJ on the track bus by a 15 year old when he was a senior. That was stupid, but at least that wasn't just in pursuit of racist dank memes.

 

[sixteen-bit]

That's what they call an epic fail.

 

[Deepwater]

Harvard is not the government, so not sure why you think that would apply here?

This is bascially a private party to private party contract.

The kids have free speech. Harvard has the freedom to not associate with them based on their speech.

Did I say it was a free speech issue or did I simply insinuate that someone would make it a free speech issue?

Reading is fundamental.

 

[Lulubop]

Smart enough to go to Harvard, not rich enough to stay.

i think you got it the other way around

 

[Spladam]

i think you got it the other way around

What I was thinking.

 

[Jenov]

Good for Harvard. Embarrassing that trump was still allowed in as president after having video tape of similar behavior released.

 

[Geist-]

Assholes deserve what they get.

 

[Pastry]

im sure later in life these children will maintain that dank memes were worth getting their admission revoked to one of the most prestigious universities in the world

 

[A Grizzly Bear]

Harvard is not the government, so not sure why you think that would apply here?

This is bascially a private party to private party contract.

The kids have free speech. Harvard has the freedom to not associate with them based on their speech.

I think you missed the point of their post.

Glad they got kicked out. Some really disgusting behavior.

 

[Fuchsdh]

People really need to understand that group chats aren't some kind of magical pocket dimension where nothing can hurt you. Glad Harvard made them face consequences for this stuff.

At first as I was reading I was wondering how some ten-person group chat of friends could have gotten leaked, and then I saw that there were hundreds in a class of 2021 group.

How dumb do you have to realize that off-color jokes aren't a good idea in any large group of people you barely know?

Good for Harvard. Embarrassing that trump was still allowed in as president after having video tape of similar behavior released.

I don't really get the Trump comparisons. Telling insensitive or edgy jokes is one thing, but Trump was talking about sexually assaulting actual people.

 

[Escape Goat]

i think you got it the other way around

Nah. You can get into Harvard with good grades and scholarships. You wont escape disciplinary action if your parents haven't donated a few hundred thousand.

 

[Raylan Targaryen]

wtf I'd deny all that shit
I was hacked
Fake account
My father did it
etc etc etc

Probably didn't think anything would happen.

 

[MMarston]

Plenty more just like them will still be attending Harvard, etc.

You should see what a number of students at a top Canadian university are up to.

 

[Jotaka]

 

[Guess Who]

"God-awful memes" is definitely one way to describe "tremendously bigoted hate speech used as a punchline."

 

[Lulubop]

Nah. You can get into Harvard with good grades and scholarships. You wont escape disciplinary action if your parents haven't donated a few hundred thousand.

but these are spoiled rich kids who weren't smart enough to not be shits on the internet

 

[Tecnniqe]

It's just meme talk

 

[Fj0823]

im sure later in life these children will maintain that dank memes were worth getting their admission revoked to one of the most prestigious universities in the world

Universities just brainwash people into gay atheists

 

[johancruijff]

jeopardize your future for memes guys

 

[BronsonLee]

Probably didn't think anything would happen.

Only thing I can think of, otherwise why admit to being such a shithead

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

These 18 year olds having known a life without internet so there is no excuse and it shows a flaw in their character, and when the school is very selective on who gets in, that means they will be extra picky.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

They're a private university and can kick people out for almost any reason they deem acceptable, but being an edgelord dummy in a private Facebook group is kind of a flimsy one.

 

[Nepenthe]

Think of how many more people with these same mindsets that got through Ivy League schools undetected, who look down on minorities and sexual abuse victims, who hold high positions in job and government and thus get reinforced despite their shitty views. Makes me cynical.

 

[Stinkles]

Universities just brainwash people into gay atheists

We prefer the term unigendered socialist gaytheist.

They're a private university and can kick people out for almost any reason they deem acceptable, but being an edgelord dummy in a private Facebook group is kind of a flimsy one.

I'd say it is in the best interests of the university to create a tolerant and diverse student body. That's not flimsy at a macro scale.