The land of (missed) opportunity

As the repercussions and reactions to the #CollegeAdmissionsScandal continue to ripple through colleges, courts and families, I'm still contemplating all the implications of the boondoggle. From where I'm sitting, this is just another example of how greed, and the abuse of power and wealth directly affects some, and indirectly affects all of us.

Consider this: intelligent, hard-working kids who really have something to offer the world can't go to college because of financial barriers and lack of access to the high-quality education that would prepare them for college enrollment, while students who admittedly have no interest in going to college, and will not benefit from the experience, nor contribute more to society because of it, have places purchased for them by wealthy parents. 

Meanwhile, the government uses "dreamers" - undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children, and raised, for all intents and purposes, as Americans - as political pawns, constantly threatening to deport them to their unfamiliar countries of origin, and potentially robbing the U.S. of their valuable contributions. Add in America's restrictive, complicated, and expensive immigration policies, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and wildly inequitable public education system and a picture emerges of a land where fewer and fewer people are offered opportunities.

This is not news, of course, but it begs the questions - when are we going to do something about it, and what is the solution? Is it possible that this scandal is the call to action we need to address the broken higher education system in this country? Universities say that, in light of this scandal, they will review their admissions policies and procedures, but what does that really mean? And even if they do make sweeping changes to their policies, there are still a number of other systems, themselves in need of major repairs, that students and families must navigate before even getting to the Admissions Office's doorstep. A student can't even get to the point of applying and being accepted to an American college if they are denied entry into the U.S., or are trying to learn in an unsafe, underfunded school. 

Meanwhile, the wealthy are focusing their time and energy on coming with up innovative ways to ensure they, and future generations of their families, will stay rich, and everyone else can go eat cake. Call it the myth of trickle-down economics in education. Take this college admissions scandal, for example. Any of these parents could have used their wealth and talents to build a library, buy computers, teach a special seminar - you know, something that would have benefited multiple people - in exchange for their kids' admission. Instead, they made themselves the sole beneficiaries of their wealth and power, and in the process, likely screwed some well-deserving, hard-working students out of an education at that school. 

Rather than being a land of opportunity, we're becoming a land of "What Ifs?" What if a different student had gotten Olivia Jade's spot at USC? What if more underprivileged students from across the country had access to college educations? What if the child who may one day discover the cure for cancer is currently locked in a cage at the border? What if the fear, greed, corruption and hatred that has gripped a good chunk of this country becomes our undoing?

New ideas flourish where diversity is encouraged. Think about it - if you have a dinner party where all the guests come from the same background and have the same ideas and opinions, you're going to have a pretty dull dinner party. But if you mix an array of people who have different experiences and ideas, suddenly the conversation is a lot livelier, and the possibilities of what emerges become a lot broader. And yes, you might have to work a little harder to find common ground, or navigate a disagreement, but that's a good thing. Good ideas and solutions to problems can be found when we force our brains to deal with different and complex problems. Not only that, it forces us to tap into our basic empathy and humanity, something we are doing less and less these days. 

We need to invite more people to the dinner party, not less, especially if America hopes to maintain its place as a world power. Which is why I'm on board with those calling for a "punishment should fit the crime" kind of sentencing. Sending these clowns to jail (if that even happens) won't make that much of a difference, but being forced to use their wealth to benefit those with less privilege would. And yes, I know that's not how our justice system works, but a girl can dream, can't she?