“This is a great day for America. We’re going back to all merit-based — and that’s the way it should be!” — Donald Trump
Donald Trump celebrated the ruling by the Supreme Court that ended race-based affirmative action in America’s colleges and universities. Given his great concern that college admissions be “merit-based.” It’s only reasonable to look at Donald’s college experience to see whether merit was the determining factor in his entrance to Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania.
A fair examination would involve looking at his high school records and SAT scores and comparing them to others. That isn’t possible because those records are unavailable after Trump went to extraordinary lengths to ensure nobody saw them. Multiple sources, including Trump’s niece, Mary, claim Trump paid someone else to take the SAT for him.
Trump paid proxy to take college entrance exam for him, niece’s book says | Reuters
Trump attended the New York Military Academy (NYMA) for five years, from 1959 to 1964. In 2011, Trump “heard” that Obama was “a terrible student.” He challenged Obama to release his college transcripts, at one point offering $5 million to go to the charity of his choice if he released his college applications, transcripts, and passport history. At the same time, Trump worked to cover up his academic history. Three officials at NYMA described efforts to conceal Trump’s records.
The Headmaster described his interaction with his boss:
Trump fixer attorney Michael Cohen testified before Congress that Trump demanded he send letters threatening “legal action” and possible “jail time” to all of Trump’s schools and the College Board.
Upon graduation from NYMA, Trump was admitted to Fordham University. Fordham wasn’t Trump’s first college choice; he originally wanted to be a movie producer and applied to the University of Southern California but was rejected. His Hollywood dreams crushed, Trump opted to follow his father into real estate and entered Fordham as a business major.
Trump’s time at Fordham was less than memorable. Trump played baseball at NYMA, but at Fordham, he played for the squash team, intramural football and began his love for golf. He was in ROTC, mandatory for two years, but Trump got out after year one, fearing it would put him on the fast track for serving in the Vietnam War. Like many college students, Trump got a military deferment (twice) because of his college enrolment. After college, he was exempted from service because of alleged “bone spurs.”
Trump’s pursuit of real estate led him to transfer to the University of Pennsylvania, which offered a real estate degree unavailable at Fordham. Trump attended the undergraduate program at the Wharton Business School, which is different than the distinguished graduate programs offered by the school. Back then, over 50% of applicants were admitted, and the process involved an in-person interview with a review by two additional staff members. Trump got his older brother Fred to call his best friend at Penn to make an introduction for Donald.
Trump’s UPenn Admissions Officer Interviewer Was Best Friends With Fred Trump Jr: Report — Newsweek
James Nolan was the only person who met Donald, remembering him as an average student. Donald was accompanied by his father, who made it a point to “ingratiate himself” with school administrators. I don’t know how common it is for a grown-ass man to show up with his father, but that happened.
Trump got into U Penn, and three of his children were later admitted on the heels of Trump-promised donations. Over several years, when Donald Jr was admitted, Trump pledged over $1.5 million to Penn; there is no record of whether Trump followed his promises. This sounds precisely like the legacy admissions now facing scrutiny and the pay-for-entry scheme for which actress Lori Laughlin and others were found guilty and served jail time. Trump mocked those who got caught paying to get their kids into college.
While using the placement, that might have gone to someone else whose father didn’t donate. Donald Jr became known as “Diaper Don” for his penchant for regularly falling asleep drunk on someone’s bed and wetting himself.
His other children that attended did better; Ivanka graduated Cum Laude with a degree in economics, and Tiffany Trump graduated and graduated from Georgetown Law School. Despite Donald J Trump’s claims of being “first in his class” at U Penn, we know he never received any honors or made the dean’s list. One professor had this to say about Donald.
“Donald Trump “was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!” — William T. Kelley
Donald Trump certainly used his connections to get into U Penn; he might have gotten in without their help. Three of his children might be considered legacy admissions, therefore, beneficiaries of affirmative action. Eric Trump went to Georgetown, as did Ivanka, before transferring to U Penn. Without money, there’s no telling where Donald or any of his children might have ended up. Such is the college admissions process in America.
It can’t be stated with certainty how much his family ties contributed to his admission into Penn or those of his children. It’s also unclear how much having someone else take his SAT helped. Given how much it meant to him, Donald should have less to say about affirmative action.
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This post was previously published on William Spivey’s blog.
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Photo credit: Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
