Thousands of students across the country are signing a petition demanding that Ivy League schools stop giving an advantage to legacy and donor students throughout the college admissions process.
Through DoSomething’s “Merit Over Money” campaign, in partnership with Edmobilizer, an advocacy organization, the petition seeks to place more low-income students into elite universities by putting a halt to admissions that are largely based on the consideration of legacy or donations made by a potential student’s family members.
“Money should not matter more than merit in college admissions. Millions of students around the world compete for spots at your institutions and giving preferences to students based on their family’s financial contributions is wrong,” the petition reads.
“Make college admissions more fair for hardworking young people everywhere by abandoning legacy and donor preferences in your admissions process.”
The petition comes three weeks after the U.S. Justice Department charged 50 people in one of the biggest college admissions scandals in the nation’s history. Famous Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman, Lori Laughlin, and prominent Silicon Valley investor Bill McGlashan were also charged by the court.
“In light of the college admissions scandal, young people across the country are angry at the broken system of college admissions,” Carrie Bloxson, chief marketing officer of DoSomething said.
“By changing their policies, Ivy League schools would set the precedent for other colleges admissions to make their admissions policies more fair.”
The scandal has shaken the faith of many students and parents in the U.S. educational system. In a recent survey, 67 percent of surveyed Americans said they believe the higher education system throughout the country is fixed in favor of wealthy students.
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