Harvard Denied Me Even Though I Wrote Them This Amazing Apology Letter. Waaaaah!
This blog post features a guest author who wants to spread the word about how he apologized to Harvard for some comments he made in the past, but they rescinded his admittance anyway. Here is the apology letter he wrote to Harvard:
Dear Harvard,
First of all, I apologize unequivocally. Second of all, I will explain the “context” of the comments that you have asked me about. Do you know what “context” is, Harvard? It’s the reasons why I did it.
Just because I’m explaining the context, it doesn’t mean that I’m making excuses for my comments which resulted in legitimate criticism. Aren’t I a great guy for admitting that the criticism people heaped on me was legitimate?
That being said, here are my numerous excuses for why I made racist, homophobic, misogynistic, anti-Semitic comments in addition to talking about staging an attack at the school, mere months before the school was actually attacked.
First, these comments of mine were made in private. This is America, right? Ever heard of the right to privacy? The comments were made in private. You should feel guilty for having seen the private conversations I had on Google Docs and group texts.
The only people who should have been privy to those conversations are my former friends and classmates who were originally included in that Google Group and group text. They, along with the tens of thousands of employees at Google, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Apple, LG, Samsung, and the National Security Administration are the only people who had any right to see those private conversations.
Private. Are you ready to apologize to me for invading my privacy? I’m waiting.
My next excuse is that this all took place two years ago. Two years! Back then, I was a childish 16-year old. Now, I’m a grown man of 18 years. Child. Man. Shall I explain the difference to you?
A child is someone who gets to do whatever he wants, no matter how offensive or outrageous it is. A man is someone who gets to escape all the consequences of things he did as a child, as long as he says he “apologizes unequivocally.”
I am a man now. The bad things I did took place two years ago! Think about all the maturity I’ve accrued in the past two years. Your jaw will drop if you actually think about how mature I am now. I survived a traumatic shooting incident at my school where 17 people were shot and killed and I had the maturity to realize that MORE guns and LOOSER gun laws are the way to go. I became a pro-NRA activist and I’m taking a gap year after high school to champion their cause. Doesn’t that sound mature?
My next excuse is that I don’t even remember making the racist, homophobic, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, violent comments that the media published a few weeks ago. I have zero recollection of making those comments. As I said, I’m a man now. I was a child back then. I look at pictures of myself from when I was 16 and I don’t even recognize myself. I’m like, “Who is that person?”
My parents are like, “That’s you.”
I’m like, “I had no idea!”
I am a much different person now, as you can see.
Before you ask-- no, there are no further offensive comments or actions of mine that I need to unearth from my past and explain to you. Even if someone were to bring such things to your attention, I would have no recollection of those, either.
My point is, how can you punish me for something I don’t even remember?
My next excuse is that back at the tender age of 16, a full two years ago, I made some unfortunate choices of friends. It was a bad crowd. They forced me to make the comments which resulted in legitimate criticism. The fault lies with those friends. I am no longer in contact with them, for obvious reasons. The most obvious reason is that they turned my Google Docs and group texts over to you and the media.
It was all so immature! We were all equally immature. We were trying to be funny by saying the most insanely ridiculous things we could think of! Everyone does it!
But I still can’t quite remember doing it. It’s a selective amnesia that happens during the transition from childhood to adulthood. Trust me, it’s a thing. You might not remember the selective amnesia that happened to you when you became an adult, because that’s actually part of the selective amnesia. The selective amnesia causes you to forget the selective amnesia.
I was an adolescent. Now I’m a man. I’ve grown up since that unspeakable tragedy occurred at my school. In what ways have I grown up, you ask? I’ll leave that to your imagination.
How have my viewpoints changed since making those racist, homophobic, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, violent comments a full two years ago? Again, I’ll leave that to your imagination.
What I will tell you is that I used to be immature, my former friends caused me to be immature, I don’t remember any of it, and it was a private conversation anyway, so you shouldn’t even know about it.
I understand your concern, but I apologize unequivocally, and I already apologized anyway when the media report first came out a few weeks ago. I don’t know why I have to apologize again.
All I want to do is take a gap year, enroll at the most prestigious college in the country, graduate with the Class of 2024, and continue to lobby for "school safety" a.k.a. “Give all the good guys guns until you find out that one of them is not a good guy, and even then, still let him have a gun because of the 2nd Amendment!”
Please don’t stand in my way, Harvard. I really need to go to your school. After my gap year. Did I tell you I was taking a gap year?
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to fully address all of your questions and concerns. I eagerly anticipate matriculating with Harvard’s Class of 2024 after my gap year. If you require anything else of me, I would be happy to provide any further information or discussion.
Sincerely,
Guy who survived deadly school shooting and now wants more guns in schools
P.S. I also emailed your diversity office, so THAT should ease any fears you might have that I’m a racist. Have you ever heard of a racist emailing a diversity office? Shah!
Original Twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/KyleKashuv/status/1140605133346283521
Huffington Post article containing screenshots of the original comments from Google Docs and group texts: