Cornelius Range | Extend aid to citizens before looking overseas

Being able to attend Penn is one of the greatest gifts I’ve been afforded in my life thus far. My father encouraged me to apply even as he acknowledged the fact that there was no way we’d be able to afford the outrageous tuition. He merely thought that it would be cool if I could one day tell my kids that I was accepted into an Ivy League university.

But that pipe dream has manifested itself into reality. I understand the impact of financial aid as well as anyone. In a perfect world, financial impediments would never prevent a qualified student — regardless of nationality — from enrolling in any American university. However, this world is far from perfect.

Contrary to allegations made by current and former Undergraduate Assembly members, I appreciate international students. The diverse perspectives they bring to this University help to make it one of the best in the world. I absolutely support Penn in its efforts to expand the admission of international students and make it more affordable — as long as we don’t forget to do the same for American students.

Earlier this semester, I attended the Posse Retreat — an event organized by the Posse Foundation, whose mission is to make sure that the new leaders of the 21st century reflect and are able to properly represent the citizenry of this society, which is becoming increasingly multicultural. Dean of Admissions Eric Furda and Associate Dean Sean Vereen both attended this weekend-long event and, from speaking with them, I was surprised to learn that in this past year, the University offered financial-aid packages to students whose families’ annual income hover around the $200,000 mark. Essentially, more financial aid is being given to upper-class students.

In a column printed yesterday in The Daily Pennsylvanian, Alec Webley asserted that I believed “that poor, brilliant students on the streets of Kolkata, India, should be penalized” for not growing up in America. This is not true. I want nothing more than to someday help give these students the same opportunities afforded to American students.

However, we cannot meet this objective yet. As a country, we cannot even adopt financial-aid policies that would ensure that poor, brilliant students on the streets of Washington D.C., New York, Memphis or Philadelphia are not penalized. How can we extend opportunities to individuals outside of this country that we haven’t properly extended to citizens of this country?

This world unfortunately does operate like an oligarchy, just like the UA. People of certain prominence decide that standardized test scores should be the primary tool by which college applicants are judged, even as studies have been conducted to show that these standardized tests favor the students able to afford the resources necessary to properly prepare for them.

An issue like need-blind financial aid for international students is not black and white; there is no clear answer. Because just like international students clamor for more financial aid to attend a place like Penn, there are kids from my neighborhood that I grew up with who cry out for financial aid to attend far less prestigious schools. We all are a part of different communities, and we must understand that many times these communities have competing interests. Diversity cannot be attained simply by accommodating one of these communities.

Maybe as a society we have grown so fragmented that when we advocate for our own interests we don’t even listen to one another. If we ever take the time to listen to one another, I think we’ll find that we are all a lot more alike than different. We will be better off if we try to understand different positions instead of instinctively attacking them.

I want the best for the poor, brilliant kid in India or China. However, it is popular to speak in favor of those students. I will speak for those kids who have no voice — for those here who have always been overlooked.

Cornelius Range is a College junior and Undergraduate Assembly presidential candidate. His email address is crang@sas.upenn.edu.

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