Crime Rejection
Over at Comment Is Free there is a slightly whining article from someone who had an offer for a place at Imperial College withdrawn. And bless the poor little soldier, he did so well at school:
“…imagine my delight in achieving the best GCSE examination results in the history of the school and then going on to get four A-levels all at grade A.”However, our really not very humble scribe had already had his heart broken:
“It was only a few weeks before receiving my results that Imperial College London wrote to me, withdrawing their offer of a place on their medicine course; the news was devastating.”And why did those nasty people not take our budding swot on? Oh, he had a criminal conviction:
“I was duped into entering a property - aged 15, it's not hard to make the wrong decision. How I regret not asking more questions when some people who I thought were friends invited me in to their new "chill out pad". Within minutes of entering the property, I was arrested and confined to a police cell for the first time in my life.”And, despite being duped, he pleaded guilty:
“Despite my innocence, I had no option but to plead guilty to the charge of burglary dwelling - I had to spare my mother the cultural shame of accompanying me through the courts.”Uh-huh. So our author committed a crime and pleaded guilty to it. That is why Imperial rejected him. Which seems fair enough to me.
The comments section to the article is full of people supporting the would-be doctor, with a few people coming through with (probably very sage) advice like “apply to another university” and “try a different career”. Throughout, though, the tone is that Imperial have done something wrong. Well, frankly they have done nothing wrong at all. It is their choice who they let into their institution, and they have rejected someone on the very reasonable grounds that that person is a convicted criminal.
You’d have to have a heart of stone* not to feel some sympathy for Majid. His crime was a while back now, and he has worked hard both in school and outside of school to make up for what he has done. He seems to have done a fair bit of voluntarily work as well (although that was largely done for self-serving reasons it appears). But I stand by my original assertion – Imperial were perfectly within their rights to reject him.
Imperial will get hundreds, if not thousands, of applications a year. Some of those will be from people who have top grades and who have done lots of work to support their application. And somehow Imperial will have to decide which of those applicants get a place, and which don’t. Basing that on whether people have a criminal record or not seems to me to be a good way of deciding to me.
This is a harsh choice for Majid, but it is based on a shitty choice he made a few years ago. Actually, two shitty choices. First of all, allowing himself to be duped into a burglary, and then for pleading guilty when he believes himself to be innocent.
Some people seem to be suggesting that Majid is a role-model for his community. Well, maybe the rejection from Imperial could be part and parcel of that. Despite his grades and his dedication, he isn’t getting what he so desperately wants. Perhaps the community as a whole could see this story as a clear example of what an impact breaking the law can have on someone’s life – not just the victim (someone not considered really at all in the article, btw) but the criminal as well.
*Contrary to what some of the more misanthropic moments on this blog might suggest, I don’t have a heart of stone.
posted by The Nameless Libertarian @ 3:38 pm
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Not really got any sympathy for him. He can always reapply and see if someone takes him own or train abroad, but crying like a baby because he got a criminal conviction is not likely to win many fans.
Here is someone who has come from nothing, struggled against all the bad influences that could easily have turned him to a life of crime, & made something of himself.
He is obviously worth a place studying medicine at Imperial, which I doubt whether you are, but he's had his hopes dashed because the fucking mongs that get their worldview from the Hate Mail and the Scum decided to take him down.
If this sends out any message, it's that there are no second chances & you might as well not bother going straight. (If you think differently, you must be wholly ignorant of the culture that exists on sink estates). The exact opposite of what people like Ray Lewis are trying to achieve, rather than sneering at people on blogs.
I thought you were one of the good guys, & I certainly never expected to find this Mail-reading shit here.
The first rule that doctors and all their various pressure groups (NHS, BMA, GMC etc) have to learn is KEEP SCHTUM and never admit to anything whatsoever, however damning the evidence, see for example here.
So obviously this chap was not cut out to be a doctor.
Asquith,
Imperial have to make a choice about who they take on, and if one of their parameters is that they don't take on people with criminal records, then unfortunately Majid falls foul of that requirement. It is a shitter, especially for him, but it happens.
If this does send out a message it is this - think before you act. Think of the consequences - both intended and otherwise. Don't rely on second chances - as this shows, they may not be forthcoming - rather, think about the impact of what you do in the first place. Yes, he might have been naively duped into burglary - but he chose to plead guilty when there was a real chance he would have been found innocent. The choice(s) he made when young are what are dashing his hopes right now.
There are two other points to note here. Realistically, Majid is not going to study medicine at Imperial - rightly or wrongly. However, that doesn't mean his life is over. He could apply to do medicine somewhere else, or chose a different career (journalism with The Guardian might be an option). He's certainly a hard working and articulate guy; medicine should not be the be all and end all for him. And the groundswell of support for him from the NHS, his MP etc shows there are plenty of people to give second chances if someone earns them - even if Imperial are not.
And secondly, taking this story to the papers might not be the best way to get Imperial to change their minds, or to get other universities to consider him. I hope this article doesn't damage his chances too much - if nothing else he has sparked a debate worth having - but in my experience this is the sort of thing that can come back to bite someone. Universities and Employers are often terrified of those who will speak out - they fear they could be a target in the future. However, whether Majid would want to study/work in such an organisation should also be questioned.
TNO
I understand what you are saying, and I respect Imperial's right to exclude him, but I maintain that they are cunts.
It seems to me that we are fighting a battle for the soul of young people. Anyone with a hint of rationality will see that the hype about "knife crime" is only making matters worse, as people now think that it's cool and street to carry a knife. We are fighting a battle to convince them not to turn to crime, and that they can achieve something by going straight even if they have been twats in the past.
I do not think a bright 15 year old on a sink estate, who despite his ability may never achieve anything, thinks along the lines you are talking about. Youngsters never do, especially if they are deprived.
They will see one of us being shut out by a toff conspiracy, and even if that belief is false it will still be held by many. Majid probably will make something of himself, but those who are equally gifted will not.
This has the potential to have fucking terrible repercussions, so I am more angered than by the usual shit that goes on. It is worse than Laura Spence. I apologise if my original post was unfriendly to you: I shouldn't have tried making it personal but it seems that this whole thing is a crock of shit.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home