n I am writing in regard to an article that was published on the front page of The Daily Free Press (“Employees’ kids make up 8 percent of freshman class,” Oct. 4, p. 1) This article, which was written by Jessica S. Kranish, is both alarming and appalling for several reasons. I would like to state outright that I do not recall giving permission to be quoted or identified by name in said article.
I was contacted last week by a student to participate in an interview about Boston University students who are the children of BU employees in the context of their applications and admissions to the university. It is still unclear to me how I was identified as such a student, and this issue, in itself, demands further investigation.
I agreed to answer the questions, because I do indeed have a parent who has had an extensive employment history — more than 20 years — with BU.
The “interview” was generously granted, as I am always happy and proud to talk about my family and my life. I did not detect any negative or critical overtones to the questions that were posed and considered the time well spent helping a fellow student.
The numerous misrepresentations that appeared in the article named above are astounding and reek of yellow journalism.
I am shocked and dismayed that this collection of untruths managed to bypass critical editorial scrutiny and be put into print. The text of the article certainly does not match the sensational tone of the title.
Ms. Kranish quotes Dan Golden, author of The Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges — and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates, stating that [employee’s children] aren’t always as academically skilled as other students.
I resent the implication since I was the only student mentioned in the story and the context is totally misleading. It is highly insulting to me since I have always worked very hard academically. In fact, I was named to the Dean’s Circle for the fall term of my freshman year.
Is this the quality of journalism that BU produces? Is this a case of cherry picking the facts, sloppy reporting or yellow journalism? Kranish needs to know how outlandishly false this entire piece actually is. She needs to do much better than this effort; Kranish needs to present the real (and not garbled) facts if she plans to pursue a career as a respectable journalist and representative of BU.
Furthermore, COM and the entire BU community need to be ever-mindful of the moral and ethical standards that should always be emphasized and exhibited in every form of university communication.
Mike Connors
CGS ’09
Please see the Editor’s Note for clarification of Kranish’s story.