What a difference a day makes when reading the Globe. When I saw Saturday’s online Metro section headline, “Judge orders $1 million to be returned to Mass. man,” it initially caught my eye because I thought it was going to be a happy lottery story. Instead, it was about John B. Wilson, who has been largely cleared in the Varsity Blues scandal, recouping his $1 million. I hadn’t heard of Wilson before reading the article. But what grabbed my attention was him saying “we did nothing wrong in donating money to colleges and getting a tie-breaker boost in the admissions process.” Not sure I’d want to flaunt that. Just because something is legal doesn’t make it ethical.
Then the Sunday Ideas section publishes Ben Conniff’s thoughtful piece, “I benefited from legacy admissions. Universities should get rid of them.” He reflects upon lower-income, marginalized kids who excelled in the same ways he did but who “required a strength and determination I never needed. I am sure one of those applicants did not get into Yale because a place was held for me.” His humility is a breath of fresh air.
Congratulations to Wilson and the recovery of his $1 million. I hope he’ll consider donating some of it to a scholarship fund.
Ellen DeGenova
Cambridge