Grandfathering not a God-given right? What has the world come to?

backslashbaby · Jan 3, 2011

Hee hee. I love that this dude felt he could sue the school!

When [Bardwil's] son, an honor roll student who focused on his grades instead of the admissions exam, botched the test, school officials did not admit the freshman this fall.

Bardwil asked for the money he had paid, $40,000, to be returned.

"We had an understanding, so I was really disappointed with the decision that they made," Bardwil said. "It's just insane for me to contribute to a school that is going to provide opportunities to other boys that is not going to afford them to my son."

Bardwil says he was told the donation "ensured" admission and last week filed a lawsuit against the school claiming fraud.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7356935.html

I think the school was slimy and believe they wrote the number on the scrap of paper, btw. None of it surprises me a bit. But it's funny, isn't it?

I knew many more folks grandfathered into prestigious schools than who got there by affirmative action, btw. It's kind of fun to see money not talk quite so much as it used to

Shadow Dragon · Jan 3, 2011

Ha, that is great. I love that this man is basically admitting that he bribed the school for his son to get in.

Captcha · Jan 3, 2011

I wonder what the school actually told the father. I mean, if they said or even strongly implied that the donation would get the kid into the school - I sympathize with the dad. Because it wouldn't be grandfathering, in the traditional sense. The father doesn't expect his son to get in just because the father went there; the father expects the son to get in because (maybe) he was told that he could buy admission.

rugcat · Jan 3, 2011

backslashbaby said:
I knew many more folks grandfathered into prestigious schools than who got there by affirmative action, btw. It's kind of fun to see money not talk quite so much as it used to

I think it's more commonly called a legacy -- you know, like Flounder in Animal House.

Most of the people opposed to affirmative action are fine with legacies -- the most remarked on was how GWB got into ultracompetative Yale despite so-so grades and SAT scores. Truly ironic.

Of course that was college. But pay for play is another long standing tradition. If this guy had come up with the 100k requested, I don't think there would have been a problem with the admission.

backslashbaby · Jan 4, 2011

I thought it was because he only gave half, too!

It is called grandfathering around here because of the twist on the real grandfather clauses in law, I think. It may have been meant as an ironic term originally

They always donate, in my experience. I've never seen it as explicitly spelled out as this little deal, but you know it must happen. And so it does, in the story.

You just usually don't see a lawsuit because the bribe didn't go well :ROFL:

amyashley · Jan 4, 2011

Laugh of my day!

I feel badly for the kid, but at least he did focus on his grades. He should be able to get in somewhere decent. It wasn't like he was messing around and counting on the bribe.

AlexPiper · Jan 4, 2011

amyashley said:
I feel badly for the kid, but at least he did focus on his grades. He should be able to get in somewhere decent. It wasn't like he was messing around and counting on the bribe.

Yeah, the article notes that the kid had good grades but didn't do well on the admission test.

That's one of the things that actually bothers me about our educational system a bit. Much of your performance is measured not by the work you do, but by how well you can take tests. I know folks who are brilliant but can't test-take well (they find the noisy, florescent-lit big rooms to be distracting, or whatever). Whereas, it's quite possible to study /specifically/ for tests and never learn the materials; you put it out of mind as soon as the test date is past.

GeorgeK · Jan 5, 2011

$40,000 for one year of High School was insufficient? I know my HS experience sure wasn't worth that.

Grandfathering not a God-given right? What has the world come to?

backslashbaby

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Shadow Dragon

Captcha

rugcat

Lost in the Fog

backslashbaby

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amyashley

Stunt-Writer

AlexPiper

Wayward Wordsmith

GeorgeK

ever seeking

Grandfathering not a God-given right? What has the world come to?

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Lost in the Fog

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Stunt-Writer

Wayward Wordsmith

ever seeking

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