Anti-Ivy League?

 

Apart from legacies, those interested in competitive application at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton or Yale must demonstrate the highest levels of achievement. Indeed, distinctions such as valedictorian, astronomical standardized test scores, or (for those seeking an MBA, J.D., or M.D.) stellar undergraduate academics, are commonplace among applicants. Consequently, when you lack these achievements the ivy bloc’s opinion of you is: (1) human rubbish at the very worst; and (2) a guise of kinsmanship veiling pity upon you at the very best. Wasp legacies play by different rules. (see MAY 2011 Crimson -- Harvard’s student newspaper -- article citing Harvard’s acceptance rate for legacies as around 30%).

Ah, but take heart *sarcasm*, if you are accepted to an ivy league institution and distinguish yourself with superior academics you will still fail to reach the highest heights your wasp legacy counterparts will attain.

All too many wasp legacies with . . . how shall I say this . . . less than considerable intellectual prowess . . . fancy themselves the leaders of tomorrow. Precluding any societal upheavals, revolutions (or the like), they will be. The storied white anglo saxon protestant network is notoriously closed (e.g., inter alia, favors, nepotism, and old family friends) affording members access to opportunities the otherwise best and brightest cannot hope to aspire to (see Jamie Johnson’s revealing writings on the wasp establishment).

Turning our attention to the ivy league's most noted secret societies and final clubs (e.g., Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key, Porcellian, etc.) . . . these exclusively male organizations are widely regarded as the threshold of the leadership of tomorrow. These groups are chock-full of wasp legacies and are oft-criticized for running counter to the core principles of a democratic society (e.g., open information, broad empowerment, and entrepreneurship). Why do they exist again? . . . Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, it’s a secret.