It seems only logical that college admissions, setting aside the controversial issue of affirmative action, should be purely based on merit. Legacy programs are not only the antithesis of a fair system that admits the top students into the top colleges and universities, but also further historically-rooted racism in those institutions. Following a strikingly poor recent decision by the deeply conservative Supreme Court to overturn the permissibility of race as a factor in applications, there has been a widespread decrease in enrollment into universities by minority students. In light of the decision, legacy programs—which allow children of mostly-white alumni “special consideration” in admissions —have, in a positive unintended side-effect, come under more intense scrutiny.

Giving preferential treatment to certain people inherently disadvantages others; there are only so many students a school can accept. To disallow harder-working, more effective, and academically adroit students in favor of perhaps less-capable students simply because of their familial background (not something they did!) is absurd in its premise – having alumnus parents cannot make someone more qualified. “It’s just silly,” said Freshman Evan Keri. “It gives families undue privilege in education and causes less wealth distribution.” Indeed, the system lends itself nicely to the top percentile of Americans – according to a study by Opportunity Insights, “children from families in the top 1% are more than twice as likely to attend an Ivy-Plus college” versus middle-class non-legacies (children not partaking in legacy programs) with similar test scores. It is undeniable that this quasi-aristocratic system – promoting further coagulation of wealth amongst the most privileged – is both outdated and absurd.