Friday, May 30, 2008

If he weren't a Republican and white, I'd want him to be my Paw Paw

I can't believe I'm finding myself agreeing with the actions of a modern-day Republican. Senator Charles Grassley from Iowa (check out this pic of him and his wife: awwwww!), who is the senior elephant on the Senate Finance Committee has declared jihad on elitist, Ivy-League institutions and their endowments. Charles is all about putting hoes like Harvard and Yale on blast for keeping their tax-free, multi-kajillion dollar endowments to themselves, while costs for higher ed continue to skyrocket, rendering average American families practically helpless in educating their kids.

I agree with the Senator. Harvard and Yale are bastions of wealth and privilege. They perpetuate this - among other things - by keeping their endowments sheltered and protected. When a student of color, or hell, just a poor student with A++ smarts can't get in because of money, they are forced to attend more affordable schools that may not necessarily carry Ivy-grade clout. These schools produce graduates who may not go on to move in bigger circles and their alum gifts are smaller and less lucrative for the alma mater's endowment coffers. Meanwhile in Harvard-land, those grads go on to bigger and better things with bigger and better pay, making bigger and better gifts to the school. The school then hoards it. Now to their credit, Harv and Yale have taken some strides to aleve the pain of sending a child to their school, but their endowments are still humungous and exempt from the reach of the IRS. It's only fair that these institutions share in the responsibility of educating the country's best and brightest regardless of their pedigree or income. By failing to do so, they are perpetuating the cycle of elitism that prevents true class mobility and well-deserving students from reaching the highest possible levels of achievement.

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