Bob CollinsAnother person in the country has been accepted to all eight Ivy League schools. Victor Agbafe of North Carolina, got accepted into 14 schools in all.
“It wasn’t about that I did this, it was a positive thing for my family, my school, my community,” he said in Business Insider.
Agbafe joins an exclusive club, which includes two high school seniors in Minnesota.
Munira Khalif, a student at Mounds Park Academy, told MPR News’ Tom Crann last week, “There’s a proverb that says when you educate a boy, you educate an individual. But when you educate a girl, you educate a generation.”
And Alexander Roman, A 17-year-old at Harding High in St. Paul, also has his pick of Ivy schools. And 12 others.
He’ll probably be the first in his family to graduate from college.
And Harold Ekeh of Long Island, N.Y., a Nigerian immigrant, is in the club, too. He got the last of his acceptance letters earlier this month.
“When other kids would say, ‘I want to be a superhero or police officer,’ I would say, ‘I want to know what is on the inside of us,’” he said.
So smart. And so wise to the world, too.
All four of these kids are the children of immigrants, which apparently is driving the racists mad.
“When these students got admitted, it meant that someone more qualified did not get admitted,” one of the tamer comments on a Star Tribune story said.
Today, the Star Tribune, which could’ve halted the dumbness but posted the comments anyway, editorialized against its customers.
“They deserve praise, not online attacks,” it said.
It’s a shame that some online naysayers have chosen to denigrate rather than celebrate their accomplishments, arguing that immigrants or children of immigrants are not worthy of a spot in the nation’s best schools. How could they possibly know enough about the students or the schools to make that judgment?
Khalif and Roman are inspirational examples of young leaders and students who merit the admiration and applause of their fellow Minnesotans. We wish them all the best as they make their college choices and trust that they will find it relatively easy to dismiss their xenophobic critics.
Perhaps one way to curb xenophobia is to stop giving it a megaphone.
