Kyle Kashuv, the conservative high school student who survived the Parkland school shooting and who is a pro-gun activist, has had his admission offer to Harvard University’s Class of 2023 rescinded, after his racist and anti-Semitic remarks from two years ago became public last month.
Kashuv broke the news of Harvard’s decision to revoke his offer of admission on Monday in a Twitter thread where he lays out his conversations with Harvard’s Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.
1/ THREAD: Harvard rescinded my acceptance.
Three months after being admitted to Harvard Class of 2023, Harvard has decided to rescind my admission over texts and comments made nearly two years ago, months prior to the shooting.
I have some thoughts. Here’s what happened.
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) June 17, 2019
Initially, the Dean of Admissions requested a “full accounting” of the media controversy surrounding the remarks that Kyle Kashuv had made when he was 16 years old.
These racist and anti-Semitic remarks were made in private text and Skype messages and in a shared Google document for an Advanced Placement U.S. history class. A former and a current student of Stoneman Douglas High School sent these messages to HuffPost, some of which were then shared by the website on May 23.
Kashuv also claimed that “former peers & political opponents” contacted the Harvard admission department to demand revocation of his admission, after HuffPost made his comments public.
In his messages, Kyle Kashuv used the n-word, talked about murdering Jews, and wrote other disparaging statements about blacks and Jews.
In his email exchange with the Dean of Admissions and the financial aid office, he stated that he “takes full responsibility” for his comments and apologizes. He then called his remarks “offensive,” “idiotic,” and “inflammatory” and said they do not “represent the man I am today.”
2/ A few weeks ago, I was made aware of egregious and callous comments classmates and I made privately years ago – when I was 16 years old, months before the shooting – in an attempt to be as extreme and shocking as possible.
I immediately apologized.
Here is my apology: pic.twitter.com/eI38ziiQE8
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) June 17, 2019
Whereas these comments were made roughly two months prior to the Parkland school shooting, in his apology, he also noted that the shooting made him “see the world through different eyes and… I can and will do better moving forward.”
However, remarking that Kashuv’s “qualities of maturity and moral character” did not meet those of Harvard, the Harvard Admissions Committee decided to revoke his admission offer.
A current Harvard student who wishes to remain anonymous due to privacy concerns told PJ Media, “I recognize the rights of private institutions and colleges to determine their own membership… However, I do not think it was right for them to rescind his offer of admissions because of comments he made while he was 16.”
“People grow, especially during high school and most definitely after going through a traumatic event such as a school shooting. I would hope that Harvard would have considered the person he is now instead of the person he used to be., ” the student said. “This is just a pure act of retribution for actions he has already disavowed.”
On Twitter, Kashuv also notes that Harvard’s decision to revoke his admission represents hypocrisy given that Harvard’s faculty “included slave owners, segregationists, bigots and antisemites,” asking why, if Harvard recognizes that it has left its racist past, it cannot recognize that he has done the same.
11/ Throughout its history, Harvard’s faculty has included slave owners, segregationists, bigots and antisemites. If Harvard is suggesting that growth isn't possible and that our past defines our future, then Harvard is an inherently racist institution.
But I don't believe that.
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) June 17, 2019
In 2017, Harvard took similar steps against admitted students of the Class of 2021 who exchanged “sexually explicit memes and messages that sometimes targeted minority groups in a private Facebook group chat.”
However, unlike the 2017 incident, where the private messages were traded after being admitted, Kashuv’s remarks were made years before his admission and right before the Parkland shooting. Every year, Harvard continues to demonstrate that it is succumbing even more to the social justice mania that is consuming higher education institutions.
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