We wanted to know whether Vassar students thought that the College should admit more, or fewer, legacy students. To find out, we asked around!
“I’d say fewer, because legacy admission perpetuates the privileges of the people in the past, and in terms of ensuring equity of education, relying on the merit of people in the past should be discouraged, as access to higher education was even less available to non-privileged groups.”
–Dana McRae ’22
“This is a difficult question. I know the benefits, like it helps fund raising and paying for financial aid, but the drawback is potentially fewer qualified students will get in in the first place. On a moral level, I think fewer. It makes sense to forge strong alum connections, but on the other hand you’re being unfair.”
–Anik Parayil ’21
“No comment. I feel it’s so dependent on why legacy students are chosen. Like, athletic recruits need to be up to snuff academically anyway, so as long as it’s not a corruption thing. Legacy students might not be coming in just for their money, but we can’t know for sure. It’s impossible to answer the question because I don’t know the premise.”
–Rohan Dutta ’23
“The thing is, I’m going to say less, because seven percent seems to be too large a number. It seems to take away from someone who might deserve it more. Legacy shouldn’t be a big part of the admission process. But I don’t know much about how much being a legacy affects admissions or the benefits of admitting legacy students. ”
–Nathan Johnson ’23
Please note that several students refused to answer the question based upon how they assumed the campus would respond.