Character cannot replace good grades, hard work

As if college acceptance based on race and ethnicity isn’t
bad enough, now someone is suggesting that character and attitude
should be taken into consideration too.

At least that’s what Hans Allhoff suggested in his Los
Angeles Times column titled, “She’s Almost Too Good to
Be True, and to Prove It She’s Going to Sue” (May 7).
In his column, Allhoff expressed his opposition to high school
senior Blair Hornstine’s multi-million-dollar lawsuit against
her school district for asking her to share her valedictorian
honors with two other students.

While Hornstine has concurrently been accepted to Princeton,
Stanford, Harvard, Duke and Cornell, Allhoff has the audacity to
claim wrongly that Hornstine’s character and attitude (due to
the pettiness of her lawsuit) are not ivy-league material.

According to the column, the students’ GPAs are only a
smidgen lower than hers, primarily because of gym classes they took
that Hornstine was excused from because she suffers from chronic
fatigue syndrome. Hornstine has now involved a federal judge in the
matter and is suing her school district for $200,000 in
compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

“Although Princeton ““ just to pick a school ““
has a compelling interest in filling its classrooms and dormitories
with accomplished young men and women just like Hornstine,”
Allhoff wrote, “it also has an interest in making sure those
young men and women have an appropriate attitude toward learning
and academic success.” Though most would find this statement
agreeable, Allhoff moved on to claim outrageously that
Hornstine’s lawsuit shows that her character is not up to par
and rudely stated, “It would be better for the nation’s
elite colleges and universities to offer admission to those
candidates with a more sophisticated sense of success and deeper
appreciation for academic life.”

That’s bogus. Hornstine has every right not to want to
share her position as valedictorian. That’s like being the
winner of a race and then being told you have to share your gold
medal with the first two runners up. What’s next Allhoff,
posture examinations and etiquette diagnoses?

Plus, the fact that Hornstine is disabled should be even more of
a reason why she should win her case. Not to say that every person
with a disability should automatically receive special treatment,
but she had to work harder than an able-bodied student and is being
unfairly stripped of her well-deserved recognition. Not only did
she have the highest grade point average in her senior class, but
she achieved it despite her disability.

Granted, taking legal action may be a tad on the extreme side.
But let’s face it; we live in a competitive world. And
especially with SAT scores rising and the college acceptance bar
getting higher and higher, who wouldn’t fight for their right
to be on top? And hey, if you worked hard for four years to be at
the head of your class and if your father was a state Superior
Court judge and was publicly on your side (as is the case with
Hornstine), you would sue too.

Regardless of her disability or what some columnist thinks of
her character, Hornstine’s accomplishments should speak for
themselves. And by listing them in his column, Allhoff completely
debunks his accusation of bad character.

Some of her accomplishments include a score of 1570 on her SAT
and an invitation to speak at a global conference in China for her
fundraising efforts. She is an accomplished orator, debater and was
even an Olympic torchbearer. If these don’t qualify Hornstine
as “college material,” then I don’t know what
would. 

The most important moral to this story is that everyone should
be on a level playing field. Race, ethnicity, character, attitude
and disabilities should not take the place of high accomplishments,
good grades, good deeds and hard work.

Hornstine has reportedly decided to attend Harvard. She deserves
it. Good for her.

Daily Bruin columnist Nissim is a second-year American
literature and culture student. E-mail her at
[email protected].