Donald Trump celebrated the ruling by the Supreme Court that ended race-based affirmative action in America’s colleges and universities. Given his great concern that college admissions be merit-based, it’s only reasonable to look at Donald’s college experience to see whether merit was the determining factor in his entrance to Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania.
A fair examination would involve looking at his high school records and SAT scores and comparing them to others. That isn’t possible because those records are unavailable after Trump went to extraordinary lengths to ensure nobody saw them.
Trump attended the New York Military Academy (NYMA) for five years, from 1959 to 1964. In 2011, Trump “heard” that Obama was “a terrible student.” He challenged Obama to release his college transcripts, at one point offering $5 million to go to the charity of his choice if he released his college applications, transcripts, and passport history. At the same time, Trump worked to cover up his academic history. Three officials at NYMA described efforts to conceal Trump’s records.
“I was given directives, part of which I could follow but part of which I could not, and that was handing them over to the trustees," said Jeffrey Coverdale, Superintendent of NYMA. "I moved them elsewhere on campus where they could not be released. It’s the only time I ever moved an alumnus’ records.”
NYMA Headmaster Evan Jones described his interaction with his boss:
"He told me that several wealthy alumni, including a close friend of Mr. Trump, were putting a lot of pressure on the administration to put the record in their custody for safekeeping.”
“I know for a fact that in 2011, the decision was made by the superintendent to remove those records and secure them so no one on the staff could get to them," added Richard Pezzulo, NYMA alumnus. "People had been making inquiries, and there was a paramount interest in securing those records.”
Trump fixer attorney Michael Cohen testified before Congress that Trump demanded he send letters threatening “legal action” and possible “jail time” to all of Trump’s schools and the College Board.
“When I say con man, I’m talking about a man who declares himself brilliant but directed me to threaten his high school, his colleges, and the College Board to never release his grades or SAT scores," said Michael Cohen. "As I mentioned, I’m giving the Committee today copies of a letter I sent at Mr. Trump’s direction threatening these schools with civil and criminal actions if Mr. Trump’s grades or SAT scores were ever disclosed without his permission. These are Exhibit 6. The irony wasn’t lost on me at the time that Mr. Trump in 2011 had strongly criticized President Obama for not releasing his grades. As you can see in Exhibit 7, Mr. Trump declared 'Let him show his records' after calling President Obama a terrible student.”
Lucy Diavolo
Upon graduation from NYMA, Trump was admitted to Fordham University. Fordham wasn’t Trump’s first college choice; he originally wanted to be a movie producer and applied to the University of Southern California but was rejected. His Hollywood dreams crushed, Trump opted to follow his father into real estate and entered Fordham as a business major.
Trump’s time at Fordham was less than memorable. He played baseball at NYMA, but at Fordham, he played for the squash team, intramural football and developed a love for golf. He was in ROTC, mandatory for two years, but Trump got out after year one, fearing it would put him on the fast track for serving in the Vietnam War. Like many college students, Trump got a military deferment (twice) because of his college enrolment. After college, he was exempted from service because of alleged bone spurs.
Trump’s pursuit of real estate led him to transfer to the University of Pennsylvania, which offered a real estate degree unavailable at Fordham. Trump attended the undergraduate program at the Wharton Business School, which is different than the distinguished graduate programs offered by the school. Back then, over 50% of applicants were admitted, and the process involved an in-person interview with a review by two additional staff members. Trump got his older brother Fred to call his best friend at Penn to make an introduction for Donald.
Benjamin Fearnow
James Nolan was the only person who met Donald, remembering him as an average student. Donald was accompanied by his father, who made it a point to “ingratiate himself” with school administrators. I don’t know how common it is for a grown-ass man to show up with his father, but that happened.
“It was not very difficult for Trump to get in during the 1960s," said Nolan. "Transfer students like Trump would have had an even higher acceptance rate given their immediate educational past. I certainly was not struck by any sense that I’m sitting before a genius. Certainly not a super genius.”
Trump got into U Penn, and three of his children were later admitted on the heels of Trump-promised donations. Over several years, when Donald Jr was admitted, Trump pledged over $1.5 million to Penn; there is no record of whether Trump followed his promises. This sounds precisely like the legacy admissions now facing scrutiny and the pay-for-entry scheme for which actress Lori Laughlin and others were found guilty and served jail time. Trump mocked those who got caught paying to get their kids into college.
Donald Jr became known as “Diaper Don” for his penchant for falling asleep drunk on someone’s bed and wetting himself.
His other children that attended did better; Ivanka graduated Cum Laude with a degree in economics, and Tiffany Trump graduated and graduated from Georgetown Law School. Despite Donald J Trump’s claims of being “first in his class” at U Penn, we know he never received any honors or made the dean’s list. Professor William T. Kelley had this to say about Donald: “Donald Trump “was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!”
Trump certainly used his connections to get into U Penn. Three of his children might be considered legacy admissions, therefore, beneficiaries of affirmative action. Eric Trump went to Georgetown, as did Ivanka, before transferring to U Penn. Without money, there’s no telling where Donald or any of his children might have ended up. Such is the college admissions process in America.
It can’t be stated with certainty how much his family ties contributed to his admission into Penn or those of his children. It’s also unclear how much having someone allegedly take his SAT helped. Given how much it meant to him, Donald should have less to say about affirmative action.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.