Alex was recently accepted to a prestigious college and joined a private online group made up of other accepted students. In the group, students were exchanging inappropriate jokes. Some jokes were hateful towards certain groups of people. Alex was taken aback by what the other students were sharing, but also unsure of what college would be like and anxious to make new friends. After reading some of the other students’ posts, Alex contributed a joke that mocked a minoritized group. A few weeks later, the college's admissions team learned about the online group and decided to take back admissions offers from students who contributed hateful content, including Alex. Alex was no longer welcome to attend the university.
Do you agree with the college’s decision to take back Alex’s admissions offer? Why or why not?
Pretend you are an administrator at the college who is deciding how to respond to this situation. What decision would you have made, and why? What factors would you take into account?
Would your decision be different if the circumstances had been any of the following?
What if Alex had been the recipient of a generous financial aid package from the college that made it possible for him to attend, and he would not be able to go to college elsewhere if his admission had been revoked?
What if Alex had just “liked” the post but didn't post it himself?
This dilemma is based on a case from the Educating for Digital Dilemmas Project at Project Zero and is integrated into Common Sense Education’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum. We thank Carrie James and Emily Weinstein for allowing its use here.