Source: Washington Post [edited]


The Facebook messaging group was at one point titled “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens.”

What a stupid messaging group title, not even funny. 


It began when about 100 members of Harvard College’s incoming freshman class contacted each other through the university’s official Class of 2021 Facebook group. They created a messaging group where students could share memes about popular culture — a growing trend on the Internet among students at elite colleges.

I am not a big fan of memes as it doesn't cater to my sense of humour, but I get it. 


But then, the exchanges took a dark turn, according to an article published in the Harvard Crimson on Sunday. Some of the group’s members decided to form an offshoot group in which students could share obscene, “R-rated” memes, a student told the Crimson. The founders of the messaging group demanded that students post provocative memes in the main group chat to gain admittance to the smaller group.

Again, it sounds pretty dumb, but whatever. 


The students in the spinoff group exchanged memes and images “mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust and the deaths of children,” sometimes directing jokes at specific ethnic or racial groups, the Crimson reported. One message “called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child ‘piñata time’” while other messages quipped that “abusing children was sexually arousing,” according to images of the chat described by the Crimson.

It sounds like a dumb idea to mock such controversial matters in such a light-hearted way on a public platform. 


Then, university officials caught on. And in mid-April, after administrators discovered the offensive, racially charged meme exchanges, at least 10 incoming students who participated in the chat received letters informing them that their offers of admission had been revoked.

It is very understandable. 


In an email to The Washington Post Sunday night, Rachael Dane, a Harvard spokeswoman, said “we do not comment publicly on the admissions status of individual applicants.”

Of course, because it will be a privacy breach. 


But according to the Harvard Crimson article, written by Harvard student Hannah Natanson, representatives from the admissions office emailed the implicated students asking them to reveal every picture they sent in the group.

I am a bit suprised though that they were being this proactive. Also, there's no guarantee that these students would have actually sent the photos that they actually sent. 


“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,” read 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.”

This makes sense as if they admitted the trouble makers to Harvard, it would give the impression that the school is willing to turn a blind eye to these matters. 


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

Yes, very much. 


According to Harvard college admissions policies, the university reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission if the admitted student “engages or has engaged in behavior that brings into question their honesty, maturity or moral character,” among other conditions, Dane told The Post.

It totally makes sense! 


The Harvard College Class of 2021 official Facebook group — like similar groups for incoming students at other universities — allows admitted students to meet classmates, ask questions and prepare for their first semester. The group is managed by the Admissions and Financial Aid Office and states in its description it is “not responsible for any unofficial groups, chats, or the content within.”

Once again, the problematic chat group bounced out of the main group. 


“As a reminder, 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,” the group description states.

Same stuff, same stuff. 


Cassandra Luca, an incoming student who joined the first meme group but not the second, told the Harvard Crimson the “dark” group chat was a “just-because-we-got-into-Harvard-doesn’t-mean-we-can’t-have-fun kind of thing.” Luca’s admission offer was not revoked, she told the student newspaper.

My stance on this is that partially they were trying to reward themselves for their hard work as well as to deny that they are not "all just" bookworms. 


This spring, 2,056 students were invited to join Harvard’s incoming freshman class, drawing from a record number of applications — 39,506, according to a university news release. Nearly 84 percent of the admitted students eventually chose to enroll at Harvard — the highest yield rate in several decades.

Who would not? Wouldn't it be an honour? 


The university’s decision to rescind the students’ acceptance to Harvard underscores the dangers of social media posts — public or private — among prospective college students. According to Kaplan Test Prep, which surveyed more than 350 college admissions officers, 35 percent of admissions officers said they check social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to learn more about applicants. About 42 percent of those officials said what they found had a negative impact on prospective students.

Now this is why I am no longer that active on Facebook. There is just so much potential for my post to get misinterpreted or somebody to get offended at my post. As for Twitter, I use a handle that is in no way connected to my actual identity and for Instagram, I make sure I am maintaining a rather healthy image on my account. 


“For better or worse, social media has become an established factor in college admissions, and it’s more important than ever for applicants to make wise decisions,” Yariv Alpher, executive director of research at Kaplan Test Prep said.

That's why I think those people who rolled around with dark memes were incredibly stupid. 


The repercussions spurred both praise and criticism from Harvard students, alumni and others at a time when university campuses across the country are in the midst of clashes over free speech. Some felt the decision was justified, while others expressed a belief that admissions officers crossed a line by judging students for their private conversations.

Freedom of speech only allows individuals to be free to say whatever they want. However, the law never guaranteed that they are also protected from the consequence of their words. 


Erica Goldberg, an assistant professor at Ohio Northern Law School who calls herself a “free speech enthusiast,” wrote in a blog post that by “ferreting out” the members of the private chat group and revoking their acceptances Harvard “has proven that there is an oppressive force to transgress.”

Goldberg, who said she taught at Harvard Law School for three years, compared the dark humor used by the Harvard students to the popular “unabashedly irreverent” game Cards Against Humanity, “whose purpose is to be as cleverly offensive as possible.

I don't agree with her at all. Her comparison of this incident to Cards Against Humanity is very bizarre and something that I can't agree to being similar to each other. 


“Even many good liberals love the game, precisely because the humor is so wrong, so contrary to our values,” Goldberg wrote. She called on Harvard to reconsider its decision.

I am a liberal, and I don't like this game. Not necessarily because it is offensive, but more so because I don't find it funny. Also, the winning strategy of Cards Against Humanity is to make a sentence that makes no sense. 


“Harvard should not teach its students to be afraid to joke in private, among people willing to joke back,” Goldberg wrote. “Harvard should not teach students to turn on each other for speech.”

Are you sure? I would absolutely hate it if I have become the butt of somebody else's joke. Once you are the target, it's no longer funny. 


This was not the first time Harvard administrators addressed controversial messages exchanged among incoming students. Last year, after connecting on the university’s official Facebook page for the Class of 2020, incoming students joined a private unofficial chat on the GroupMe messaging app. In it, some students exchanged images that included racially charged jokes and at least one message that mocked feminists.

Nowadays, the trend is to hate feminists, so I will give them a few faux pas here in there, but if it keeps on continuing, I am probably going to lose more faith in humanity. 


Though the exchanges prompted a controversy among members of that incoming class, administrators did not discipline the students who sent the messages, according to the Harvard Crimson. Thomas A. Dingman, then the interim dean of student life, said in an interview at the time that the individuals were “not matriculated students at this point.”

Exactly, other than to take away their offer, there's nothing much they could do. 


I have a couple of points that I want to make regarding this article:


1. Watch out what you say on social media. 

If I were working at the Harvard Admissions Office, I would probably have kicked these students out not only because I would find their morality to be repulsive, but also because they lack the ability to make smart decisions in life. I get that they formed a facebook group among those entering Harvard as I was a part of many facebook groups as well. 


However, I just can't wrap my head around how they "still" don't get how whatever you state on social media would probably remain on the internet forever. Even if you are not even a celebrity, just a regular citizen, it is going to bite you back. Just like how people would develop a negative impression of you based on your past behaviour. 

 

2. Words have consequences. Freedom of speech doesn't protect you from potential negative consequences. 

I am sure it's not only myself, but for other people as well, the most important skill people develop as they mature into adulthood is the ability to filter whatever you intend to say. Children have a leeway when they blurt out whatever comments that cross their minds, but young adults? Nope! As time goes by, you will be judged more and more on how you say things and what you say. 


People's misconception of what constitutes of freedom of speech blows me away. If people started being legally protected for saying whatever they want, imagine the chaos that would begin. Some people are naturally pessimistic, so they would tear people down all the time. Are you sure you want to live in a world like this? Are you sure you are "never" going to be offended? 


3. Don't cross the line making dark jokes. 

I like dark jokes as well. However, I am very cautious as to make sure on who I am talking to in what context to make it as appropriate as possible. Also, I never ramble on and on about making dark jokes as I want to hide the fact that I am generally a pessimistically optimistic individual. And these people have an entire chat group dedicated to making these dark jokes. 


Overall, those who are defending these ex-students and the ex-students themselves, they are both not making any sense at all. They are not wise, to put it mildly. When even a graduate from a mediocre school like myself makes a big deal about my own public image on social media, I am amazed that these people don't care. 


"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." - C. S. Lewis

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