Dear Stanford community,

The Daily’s Opinions section is excited to introduce Frankly Speaking, a weekly column that has community members weigh in on pressing campus news and debates.

Here’s how it will work: Every week we will release a debate-worthy question on Monday. We will accept 250-word (max) responses to the question from readers until Saturday of the same week. Then we will choose a few particularly incisive submissions to be published in the next week’s Monday paper.

Our hope is for Frankly Speaking to extend discourse and debate on important subjects beyond Daily staffers and to put voices from across campus in conversation with each other. We want to hear from students across disciplines and social identities about their unique takes on the controversial topics and vital realities we confront as an institution.

Our main criteria for selecting responses are clarity, creativity and persuasiveness. We encourage you to draw on personal expertise and experience as you justify a stance.

Our first question is:

To what extent is getting admitted into Stanford a result of privilege?

Please submit your responses via Google Forms here.

Responses are due by 11:59 p.m. on Saturday April 20, 2019.

Contextual information you might consider: Stanford is under Department of Justice investigation for its part in a college admissions scandal in which students were admitted to universities through bribes, falsified credentials and cheating on admissions tests. Most recently, Stanford expelled a student with falsified sailing credentials. Before this, they changed their athlete recruitment policy, while confronting a Department of Education probe into how the University’s financial aid mechanisms may have facilitated bribery. In local news, several Bay Area parents have been charged for using illegal means to get their children admitted into colleges. In light of this scandal, some commentators have argued that the scandal is simply a manifestation of how the college admissions process favors students from privileged backgrounds. We want to know what you make of this perspective.  

If you have any questions or concerns, please email [email protected].

We look forward to hearing from you,

Volume 255 Opinions Team