perfidy

I gotta say, the idea that this clown got admitted to Yale doesn't vex me much... mainly because I hold out dim hope that being around, y'know, people might moderate his views to the point where he goes back to Afghanistan and talks about how infidels aren't all that bad, really.

But when you bring up the very good point of the free ride, I can see why this is a vexed question.

BTW, Yale IS filthy stinking rich, and I kind of think they are immune to money-withholding, because it would mean mobilizing everyone from ex-philosophy grads making $24K to partners at white-shoe law firms, and of those groups the very wealthy (white shoe lawyers, etc) are probably the least likely to care enough to not give money. For what's more rewarding than a plaque with your name on it??

I must agree with Johno on this one. Certain admissions need to be seen in the light of an intellectual diplomacy that encourages a forward-looking impression of America. Such policies were fairly successful in the 1950s and 1960s in keeping European scholars on the west side of the Wall--intellectually speaking, limiting the penetration of communism in the general population. Since Yale won't teach him to be a better terrorist (or soldier, for that matter), I am not worried that he will become more savvy.

Why Yale would do this is "vexing." I am not surprised that it would be on the lookout for someone they think that they can reform, someone to represent the "Yale" perspective in Afghanistan. The absence of formal education need not be an obstacle if he shows an ability to learn. In fact, the poverty and politics of Afghanistan suggests that such opportunities would be impossible, so the criteria needs to be rethought. Would any Afghani be able to measure, or are they de facto barred from entry? Even if he does not 'deserve' to go to Yale, his degree depends on his own efforts. I think (and hope) that universities would not reward "showing up." Hell, by alma mater, UCLA, admitted many people. After that, it was sink or swim. Many sank. Yale can choose to help its Talaban student through tutoring. If he is kept alive through grade inflation, than we know he enjoys the same privileges as any student at Yale (or any other Ivy League school.)

In the long run, Yale is exhibiting the same tendencies towards diversity as almost all private schools: look for people who can extend the prestige of the university; limit diversity to foreigners rather than to American minorities; serve the alumni. Private universities in the US show little compulsion to serve society, whether it is defined from a conservative or liberal perspective. Perhaps he was the best candidate to represent Yale in the world of Islamist fundamentalism.

As I recall, he's in a non-degree program, so concern about how he achieved grades in pursuit of a degree would be moot. Who knew Yale gave G.E.D. courses?

That said, my take on this is about identical to GL's, with the exception that, well, Yale doesn't rank too highly in the pantheon of things I take all that seriously. They're just as capable of providing a good education as a bad one, and in both aspects I'd say the same is also true of any good state school. A state school wouldn't have the latitude to be so politically correct on the public's dime, and that sets Yale apart.

White shoe lawyers won't withhold donations, any more than they got exercised about Yale's indefensible and utopian participation in the recent Supreme Court slapdown on military recruiters' presence on campuses.

That's the thing about Utopians - they tilt at windmills so as to be seen tilting at windmills. Yale can afford to do so, and the only recourse for that vast majority of us who didn't and won't go there is to point at them and giggle at their sillier motivations.

Good points.

I would be more concerned if he was enrolled at Norwich, VMI, or the Citadel. At those places he would be much more likely to learn something that could be used against us.

Hmm. Seems to me that the Talibanic visitor's visa probably says "student", when it should say "lab rat". Harvard will have an opportunity to study this wacko at close range and observe his reactions to American culture.

You don't actually think this is about educating this guy, do you?

P.S. Too bad you weren't in the Canadian University system. The best schools in Canada are available to all at minimal cost, and "extracurriculars" are not part of our university application process. You fill out the app and your grades get sent -- and it's all about the grades. Want to go to the best school? Compete and make the grade, and it's yours for a few thousand a year. Competing can be tough -- minimum high school averages to get into top engineering schools can be upwards of 90%.

Ross, we should invade Canada so we can have your wonderfully inexpensive educational system for our own. Oh wait, then we'd have to pay taxes to support it. Never mind.

This quote seems to hit squarely at the center of the issue:

"In some ways I'm the luckiest person in the world," Hashemi told the Times. "I could have ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Instead I ended up at Yale."

That's right, keep 'em guessing. It's just a matter of which Americans you end up with. Some Americans only approve of homophobic barbarians when they are us, and some only approve when they aren't.

The mismatch between Yale's policy on military recruiters and accepting someone who was part of a regime that didn't stop at mere discrimination against gays but went straight on to murder is rather striking.

This acceptance of any evil that opposes America is truly bizarre to me. Opposing American "imperialism" is a lustration that washes clean any other sin. People like this Hashimi (related to Sashimi?) are the antithesis of everything that the no-doubt upright and respectable leftists at Yale claim they hold dear. Yet they let him in.