A most unusual legacy makes it to the movies
The Blind Side tells the story of a prosperous white, gung- ho Ole Miss family—the Tuohys—who become legal guardians of Michael Oher, a black foster care child who demonstrates football talent. Big Mike graduated from the University of Mississippi and later became a Baltimore Ravens lineman. But not without some raised eyebrows along the way. Below is a scene from the movie where
Mike is being questioned by an official from the NCAA about his choice of schools. JG: My name is Jocelyn Granger, and I’m the Assistant Director of Enforcement
for the NCAA. Were you aware that Coach Cotton is accepting a job at Ole Miss? Michael Oher: No. JG: And that this job offer came after you signed with them? JG: Sean Tuohy, your legal guardian went to Ole Miss. MO: He played basketball. JG: And Mrs. Tuohy went to Ole Miss as well. MO: She was a cheerleader. JG: Is this safe to say that Ole Miss is their favorite school? Did they like any
other Universities? What about, say Tennessee? MO: No. They can’t stand Tennessee. JG: And your tutor... Miss Sue is an Ole Miss grad, too. Miss Sue ever tried to
persuade you to attend Ole Miss? JG: Did you know that the Tuohys make generous donations to Ole Miss? That
even Miss Sue makes donations? JG: That the Tuohys, have a condo in Oxford so they can attend as many athletic
events as possible? JG: That, in fact, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy are by our definition... “boost-
ers.” JG: Mr. Oher. Mr. Oher? Do you understand? Do you know why am I here? MO: To... investigate. JG: The NCAA fears that with your recruitment a door might be opened—that
boosters from lots of schools in the South will become legal guardians for young athletes without means and funnel them to their Alma Maters. I’m not saying I believe it and I’m not saying I don’t, but there’re many people involved with this case who would argue that Tuohys took you in, they clothed you, they fed you, they paid for your private education, they bought you a car, and paid for your tutor, all as part of a plan to insure that you play football for the University of Mis- sissippi. JG: I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this. MO: But all questions you asked were about why everybody else wanted me
to go to Ole Miss. Not once did you ask why did I want to go there. JG: Alright, fine, Michael... Why do you want to go to Ole Miss? MO: Because it’s where my family goes to school. It’s were they’ve always
gone to school! 8 Today’sCampus
The lure of legacies Legacy admissions are based on a preference for the children of alumni. Thomas Loverro wrote about legacy admissions in 2003 in the Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal. “ In the 1920s Harvard, yale and Princeton, among others, began offering preference to the children of alumni in order to counteract their rising numbers of Jewish and Catholic students and applicants. Although blatant bigotry and anti-Semitism faded away, legacy policies persisted after the Second World War. Today, legacy preference policies are not exclusive to the private Ivy League, but can also be found at large public universities such as the University of Virginia.” In a recent year Princeton admitted 40
percent of legacy applicants, compared to 13.1 percent of all Princeton applicants. The Middlebury College legacy admission rate was 48 percent versus 18 percent for all appli- cants. In 2008, ABC News requested legacy admission statistics from several selective schools across the country. Columbia, Georgetown and Stanford were among the schools refusing to share the numbers. Many observers are willing to share opinions about the practice. Proponents argue that legacy admissions
are essential to fundraising for tuition-depen- dent and endowment-dependent private schools. In Legacies of Injustice, Shikha Dalmia of the Reason Foundation notes that almost “every selective college, public and private, gives a sizable edge to underrepresented minorities.” She also notes that the college admission process contains many exceptions to grades and scores. Being the son or daughter of a graduate of the school is one such exception. College Solutions author Lynn O’Shaugh-
nessy blogs that, according to the federal Department of Education, legacies on aver- age are “significantly less qualified” than their peers. A 2008 study of Duke admission prac- tices concluded that the school’s legacy stu- dents were “less accomplished as high school students and lagged in their grades during their first college year. These Duke legacy students were less likely to major in engineer- ing or express an interest in becoming a doc- tor.”
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