# Get accepted to Harvard for being smart, get kicked out for being stupid
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 6, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285 "2017-06-06T18:26:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/81 "2017-06-07T23:55:58Z")
> [@octopus](#):
>
> Well wait til you folks get busted for something you thought was private. I’d like to see how consistent you are with regards to your principles.
Since I’m not a racist I’m not worried about experiencing this particular scenario.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/82 "2017-06-07T23:56:19Z")
> [@octopus](#):
>
> Private groups? Password protected sites?
>
> Do you bank, shop, or store files online? Do you expect privacy?
I don’t bank in chatrooms or post my ATM PIN in them. I don’t post racist shit on The Straight Dope.
Too often.
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### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/83 "2017-06-07T23:57:52Z")
> [@Marci\_Al](#):
>
> It’s a profitable business. Everything else is illusion, IMHO.
It’s a non-profit entity.
Leaving aside that point, the business case for Harvard’s action was made [upthread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20260430&postcount=63). The “product” that Harvard offers to the general public\* is Harvard-educated people and the future value of that product depends on the goodwill generated by current students. If the school thinks those ten students will hurt that goodwill, they have every reason to rescind their admissions.
\*Yes, it’s a research university and its primary product is human knowledge. The general public doesn’t care.
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### Author:  [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/84 "2017-06-08T00:09:39Z")
> [@Marci\_Al](#):
>
> I still have a problem with the assumption that 19-year olds should act like mature, experienced adults at all times, and deserve a lasting, irrevocable punishment for a misdemeanor. Is Harvard saying it cant reform that kind of behavior off the bud? Or are its finances so secure that they can refuse an additional $650,000 in annual tuition fee income?
I don’t think it’s too much to expect 19-year-olds to not be intolerant assholes.
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/85 "2017-06-08T00:11:14Z")
> [@Marci\_Al](#):
>
> Is Harvard saying it cant reform that kind of behavior off the bud? Or are its finances so secure that they can refuse an additional $650,000 in annual tuition fee income?
As I mentioned upthread: 2000 students per class. 39,000 applicants. Harvard can afford to be as selective as it likes.
Having now viewed the material in question, I find the immaturity as damaging as the subject matter. Yes these are teenagers – but they are not middle schoolers. If you are immature enough to find that stuff amusing, then you really are too immature to go to Harvard. Maybe wait a few years until you have grown up a little and then reapply.
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### Author:  [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/86 "2017-06-08T00:11:34Z")
> [@Chimera](#):
>
> Since I’m not a racist I’m not worried about experiencing this particular scenario.
Doesn’t mean you don’t hold some opinion that people would find deplorable.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/87 "2017-06-08T00:12:30Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#):
>
> It’s not about the fact that these kids were stupid or immature. The problem was who they insulted. Harvard is looking at the content through the lens of political correctness. If they had a chat room in which they talked about killing certain political figures or certain government employees, they would be part of a big movement and therefore would never face any questions about what they wrote.
Yes, talking about killing political figures is totally kosher and not at all taken seriously by law enforcement. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/88 "2017-06-08T00:14:34Z")
Really? Non-profit? Here too in my country. But that doesn’t stop the Jesuits and all other teaching orders from jacking up annual tuition at rates well in excess of annual gross returns for education plans and (most importantly) a father’s annual salary rate hike.
I’ve been through this private exclusive school merits and de-merits long enough, at least here in my country, and as a banker, I have a pretty good idea of how much these “non-profits” earn every year. Here in the Philippines, the “top” private schools have so much excess funds that more than 50% of their annual expenditures go to research, charity, and subsidizing nearly 25% of new students. They can literally give back what they earned from previous generations of students.
And yes, the uppermost crust of industry, national government, armed rebel groups, even the most spectacularly successful white collar criminals are dominated by graduates of the top-4 schools.
So for good or bad, we have the top schools to thank.
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### Author:  [@MareIt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MareIt)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/89 "2017-06-08T00:19:20Z")
Last irrevocable punishment? Seriously? They have not been prohibited from getting a college education. They have been prohibited from being attending Harvard as a freshman. Odds are, if they are so inclined, they could probably make a case to be allowed to transfer in after their freshman year (after LOTS of community service). So they may not even be forbidden from getting a Harvard degree. Furthermore, odds are that these kids can finagle their way into one of the other Ivy League schools where they were admitted and turned down in favor of Harvard.
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/90 "2017-06-08T00:38:34Z")
> [@octopus](#):
>
> Doesn’t mean you don’t hold some opinion that people would find deplorable.
Holding an opinion that’s deplorable to 1% of the population is different from holding an opinion that’s deplorable to 90% of the population.
Holding a deplorable opinion is different from _expressing_ a deplorable opinion.
Expressing a deplorable opinion in a forum bearing the name of the institution you’re privileged to be associated with is different from expressing a deplorable opinion in a way that doesn’t reflect negatively on any specific institution.
I’m not afraid of getting in trouble for my opinions because I understand these nuances.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/91 "2017-06-08T00:43:42Z")
I don’t think Harvard should stop there. I believe they should also go up against the vile person that created the site in question that allows teenagers, racists, religious fanatics and general dumbasses to spread offensive jokes and disinformation at an ever-increasing pace.
Unfortunately, I have no idea who that is. Wait, I just looked it up. [It is this guy](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40053163). Rumor has it that he first started to create his little hate site so that he could meet non-Jewish girls.
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### Author:  [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/92 "2017-06-08T00:45:37Z")
> [@needscoffee](#):
>
> [This site](https://thetab.com/us/2017/06/05/harvard-memes-rescinded-69413) purports to show the offensive memes that were posted - for context. Hard to believe these were the best and brightest Harvard could round up.
If this is accurate, there wasn’t anything racist or truly offensive there. It’s the sort of stuff you’d expect to read during a game of Cards Against Humanity or Joking Hazard. When I was young it was dead baby jokes. Then it was the movie The Aristocrats. Nothing mean spirited or bigoted, just gross-out humor and seeing who can be more “offensive” in a jocular way. I have to admit, I found a couple of them actually funny.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/93 "2017-06-08T01:02:04Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#):
>
> If this is accurate, there wasn’t anything racist or truly offensive there. It’s the sort of stuff you’d expect to read during a game of Cards Against Humanity or Joking Hazard. When I was young it was dead baby jokes. Then it was the movie The Aristocrats. Nothing mean spirited or bigoted, just gross-out humor and seeing who can be more “offensive” in a jocular way. I have to admit, I found a couple of them actually funny.
I agree, a lot of those are funny and that type of humor has been around basically forever. There is nothing hateful about it, it is just meant to be shocking. I was expecting much, much worse. I see worse things than that on my Facebook feed all the time and I don’t blink an eye.
I am starting to believe that Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and others have a point when they say that lots of college liberals just don’t get humor at all. They are starting to become very literal and robotic in their approach like an autistic hall monitor that makes no exceptions because they can’t understand context. Ironically, Amy Schumer and Sarah Silverman say some of the most obscene shit that has ever come out of anyone’s mouth and nobody messes with them because they have extremely liberal politics (I am a huge fan of both of them). Sure, they are famous comedians now but they weren’t when they were 18.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/94 "2017-06-08T01:26:01Z")
> [@octopus](#):
>
> No sympathy for all those foolish celebrities who had their nudes hacked? They should have known better. Erin Andrews? Too bad. She should have known cameras can be anywhere.
Of course I have sympathy. Why would you think otherwise?
The two cases are different. Unless you think Harvard invaded the privacy of these kids? Are you objecting to the invasion of privacyy, or that Harvard decided to rescind their admission?
Because this wasn’t an invasion of privacy.
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/95 "2017-06-08T01:53:22Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#):
>
> Apparently Harvard has rescinded admission for students who got too drunk at [pre-freshman weekend](https://www.thecrimson.com/flyby/article/2016/4/15/how-to-visitas/).
Id rather there be one and only one chance given. Most of us are still immature at 17 and 18.
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### Author:  [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/96 "2017-06-08T02:00:06Z")
> [@monstro](#):
>
> Holding an opinion that’s deplorable to 1% of the population is different from holding an opinion that’s deplorable to 90% of the population.
>
> Holding a deplorable opinion is different from _expressing_ a deplorable opinion.
>
> Expressing a deplorable opinion in a forum bearing the name of the institution you’re privileged to be associated with is different from expressing a deplorable opinion in a way that doesn’t reflect negatively on any specific institution.
>
> I’m not afraid of getting in trouble for my opinions because I understand these nuances.
I doubt 90% of the population have never shared a joke someone would consider offensive.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/97 "2017-06-08T02:04:39Z")
Harvard should know that adolescent, especially male, brains aren’t fully formed until they are in their early 20’s at best. They are going to do some dumb shit and no amount of mastery of linear algebra is going to prevent that. Harvard should know that already because Dollar Rent-A-Car does.
During my freshman orientation at Tulane, we went on a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River. One of the New Jersey kids got drunk for the first time and decided that it was time to start throwing large items of furniture overboard until he was stopped. He was put on immediate academic probation, forced to pay for everything he sank and had to go by the name “Tables” for the rest of his college career but he wasn’t expelled. That seems fair to me.
A very local 20 year came home from Duke a couple of weeks ago, went to a hometown reunion party and decided to walk home not that far away. He never made it because he decided to take a shortcut through a marsh, got lost and died of hypothermia - in late May. I would say that is a dumb way to die but my best friend and I came very close to suffering the same fate when we were only a little younger because we didn’t have any sense either.
You can’t judge adolescents by adult standards no matter who they are - especially males. Most of them don’t have the sense god gave a goose until they are in they are at least in their low-twenties and that is even a stretch for some. The trick is to train them well so that they eventually turn out right.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/98 "2017-06-08T02:22:04Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#):
>
> … He was put on immediate academic probation, forced to pay for everything he sank and had to go by the name “Tables” for the rest of his college career but he wasn’t expelled.
Let’s not talk about how I got the moniker “Catfish”, okay?
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/99 "2017-06-08T02:58:25Z")
> [@octopus](#):
>
> Wait till these search engines and data collectors piece together who you are online even when you use a so-called anonymous label on a message board.
I make no special effort to hide who I am. A simple google search should be enough to find my name. But I’ll save everyone the trouble and point out that my username here (and pretty much everywhere else online) is my first initial and last name. It only looks obscure because my last name is unusual. Anyway, you only need to google if you want to know my first name.
> [@](#):
>
> Ever tell any off-color joke? Ever see or watch content someone may judge inappropriate? How about check out a book the outragearati would be offended by?
I’ve been following the rule I cited about what to post online for 30-some years now, ever since I got on USENET.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-accepted-to-harvard-for-being-smart-get-kicked-out-for-being-stupid/788285/100 "2017-06-08T03:12:49Z")
As a funny aside, I had a stalker from this board try to “bust” me once by finding out my true identity (not hard), locate my parents (a little harder) and then send them what was thought to be examples of “offensive” posts.
What the dumb shit didn’t understand is that there is a reason a got squirted out of my mother’s vagina thanks to my father’s cum. There was kind of Betty Crocker effect going on.
They are way more talented at humorous offensiveness than I could ever aspire to be. That went over like an aborted baby in a Baptist church punch bowl. We still laugh about it.
Not everyone is a member of the offenderati and that is a good thing. I love it when someone makes a horrible joke about a group that I am a member of. I think they are hilarious when well done.
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