Adam Wheeler, Harvard, and the Pass-Back System
Let’s give it up for Adam Wheeler.
The 23-year-old Delaware native was arrested this past week for lying his way into Harvard. Though he’d been admitted back in 2007, Wheeler didn’t get caught until he applied for Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships.
Some of the things Adam Wheeler lied about? Earning a perfect academic record at Philips Academy in Andover, as well as studying for a year at MIT. In actuality, Wheeler attended Bowdoin College in Maine… until he was suspended for academic dishonesty.
One can only wonder how any degree-granting institution, especially an Ivy League School that claims to be among the top in the nation, wouldn’t be aware that one of their applicants had previously been suspended from college for academic dishonesty.
I mean, that seems like the kind of thing you’d usually check for.
"Trust Me"
The major complaint from Harvard is the loss of $45,000 in financial aid, grants, and scholarships. Considering the average four-year college education costs around $100,000, forgive us if we’re not weeping for Harvard.
It’s hard for this writer to look down at Wheeler’s actions, as I too committed identity fraud during the early part of my college career, usually every weekend.
I, along with many of my underage-peers, committed a heinous crime called “The pass-back.”
It went like this: your over-21 friend gets into the bar. He gets himself the appropriate hand-stamp, allowing himself to get in-n-out of the bar without having to present his ID again. He then goes outside, where you eagerly and soberly await his arrival, where he passes it back to you. Hence the phrase, “The pass-back.”
We at Fing Bing salute Adam Wheeler, committer of an Ivy League Pass-back System. Best of luck fighting the 20 charges you’ve been indicted on.
