Harvard Rescinds Admission Offer to Students Over Offensive Messages Social media has become a minefield for young people who overshare By Melissa Korn
https://www.wsj.com/articles/harvard-rescinds-admission-offer-to-students-over-offensive-messages-1496679940
Harvard University rescinded admission offers for at least 10 incoming freshmen after they discovered the students had posted sexually explicit and otherwise offensive messages in a private Facebook chat.
The news was first reported by the Harvard Crimson on Sunday. A Harvard spokeswoman said the school doesn’t comment on individual admission decisions.
According to the Crimson, a handful of admitted students formed a messaging group online in December allowing them to send provocative and offensive memes and images to one another. The messages mocked sexual assault and the Holocaust, among other sensitive subjects. At least one joked that abusing children was sexually arousing, while another called the hanging of a Mexican child “piñata time.”
Social media has turned into a minefield for prospective college students and grads looking for jobs, as well as those already gainfully employed. Drunken party photos–especially for those still not of legal drinking age–or inappropriate racial comments can torpedo an otherwise solid candidate, admissions officials and HR experts warn.
Following the lead of career coaches, many high school guidance counselors now recommend students review their Facebook, Twitter , Instagram and other accounts for embarrassing or outright offensive material before submitting applications.
Many colleges create official Facebook groups for newly admitted students, allowing the high schoolers to begin meeting one another before arriving on campus. The “closed” Harvard College Class of 2021 group, managed by Harvard’s office of admissions and financial aid, had 1,518 members as of Monday.
The official group description says the school is “not responsible for any unofficial groups, chats, or the content within,” and reminds participants that the school “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.”
According to the Crimson, roughly 100 admitted students formed a private messaging group, not moderated by school officials, to share pop-culture memes, and then the more provocative chat was an offshoot of that group. At one point, the paper said, the group was titled “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens.”
The Crimson reported that admissions officials asked students to disclose images of the messages sent sometime in April, disinvited them to admitted-students weekend in late April and withdrew the offers of admission for at least 10 shortly thereafter.
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