by James Yu | August 17, 2008

An “Ivy Montrealer” recently informed us of a juicy bit of hypocrisy: Canadian and McGill graduate Padraic Scanlan, whom we covered last November for penning a damning critique of Yale and other privileged American universities in the McGill Daily, is now going for his PhD in history at Princeton. To refresh everyone’s memory, here are a few excerpts from Scanlan’s column:

New Haven reminded me vividly of Detroit - class and race are lashed together in a widening spiral of systemic oppression in both cities. Both cities are scarred with bombed-out buildings and condemned lots. In both cities, black and Hispanic Americans are crushed by the combined weight of a decimated economy, mounting personal debt, and pervasive, systemic racism. The only difference between Detroit and New Haven is that in New Haven, Yale sits, gleaming and gated.

Likening New Haven to Detroit is legit, and surely Yale is “gleaming” compared to the city that abuts it, but saying New Haven is filled with “pervasive, systemic racism” seems, well, a bit hyperbolic. Scanlan continues:

You have to visit to really appreciate how obscene the divide is between the rich and the poor in New Haven, Connecticut. Yale is vastly wealthy - I can see now (having never actually visited an Ivy League school before) why McGill’s administration slavers after the prestige and wealth of that select clique of New England universities. It is enormous, full of granite and sandstone, gleaming new electronics, and huge College Gothic piles.

One final quote by Scanlan and some commentary after the jump.

At the end of the piece Scanlan concludes that McGill is neither Harvard nor Yale, and decides that is perfectly fine because

McGill is more equal-opportunity - Yale is a mansion on a hill, Yale is a lyric in a Phil Ochs song, and Yale is a monstrosity of extreme wealth floating in a sea of poverty. McGill has problems, and inequality, and Montreal has racial and socioeconomic disparities, but at least Montreal isnt a city that physically inspires visitors to join the Communist Party.

Princeton, for those who don’t know, has a higher per capita endowment than Yale or Harvard. But maybe the proletarian-cum-Ivy Leaguer justified it all because unlike Yale, Princeton is a monstrosity of extreme wealth floating in, well, the heated pool of an exclusive seaside resort.

And finally, a parting shot by our tipster: “Apparently he’s only a commie when it suits. Hypocrite.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=846647&forum_id=1#10079015)