Although leftists were up in arms when the U.S. Supreme Court determined that colleges should not give applicants special treatment based on the color of their skin, many prominent progressives have spent the past several days railing against so-called “legacy admissions” whereby individuals with ties to a particular school can often secure a spot for their relatives.
President Joe Biden is among those who have expressed such a position, which struck more than a few critics as ironic in light of reports that he leveraged his own connections to help his granddaughter get into the University of Pennsylvania.
“(Biden) attacked legacy admissions…(but) Biden has used his influence as VP and president to get his family members into prestigious universities…he interjected himself to the admission of his granddaughter…at the University of Pennsylvania.”https://t.co/4ys4cbojos
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 4, 2023
Evidence recovered from Hunter Biden’s discarded laptop indicated that his daughter, Maisy Biden, applied to the Ivy League institution in 2018. In October of that year, she reportedly sent her father a text message declaring: “I applied early decision to Penn today!!”
Her grandfather apparently contacted the university’s president, Amy Gutmann, with whom he had a personal connection, weeks later.
Joe Biden sent his son a message on Dec. 13, 2018, that indicated he would “try to see” Gutmann the following day. Two days later, he followed up by reporting that he “had a great talk” with the university president.
“Maisy still in the game for regular acceptance,” he wrote. “But must do well in class this period. It’s real. We should talk about tutors etc starting tomorrow.”
The following March, Joe Biden sent his son another text stating that he had spoken to the university’s dean of admissions about the application, explaining: “If I hear before 1 pm on [March 29] I’ll call immediately so you can call Maisy. Let me know if there’s anything I can do on anything.”
The high court determined that Harvard University’s affirmative action policies violated the equal protections clause of the Constitution, prompting critics of the decision to assert that strictly merit-based or colorblind admissions would do a disservice to certain minority students.
Meanwhile, leftist activists claimed that legacy admissions, which largely benefit White applicants, were improper precisely because they circumvented a merit-based system.
“A spot given to a legacy or donor-related applicant is a spot that becomes unavailable to an applicant who meets the admissions criteria based purely on his or her own merit,” read a complaint filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights.
