Yale University may have been aware that its new admissions Web site was a security risk, but it is unlikely that administrators expected a rival school to take advantage of it. At least until Stephen LeMenager, director of admissions at Princeton, clandestinely accessed the site on a number of occasions -- in effect spying on Yale admissions.
LeMenager's actions are extremely troubling, but they also raise very troubling questions about his motive. Has the level of competition between top tier schools to attract the best students gone too far? Has it gotten intense enough to encourage an admissions officer to act illegally?
A senior member of Princeton's admissions team, LeMenager surely knew that hacking the Yale site was an illegal, unethical invasion of applicant privacy. And though LeMenager denies that he was motivated by an attempt to gain a competitive advantage, his claim that he was merely testing Yale's security is suspect at best.
Beyond the obvious need to increase Internet security, LeMenager's motive would also suggest that we also need to look at the admissions process as a whole -- the thing that might drive a person in LeMenager's position to spy. A competitive spirit drives rival schools towards excellence, but the competition has gotten out of hand. No single student is worth tarnishing a school's reputation and initiating a federal investigation. And despite Princeton's emphasis on it being the actions of only "one person in the admissions office," LeMenager's espionage reflects poorly on the entire university.
Perhaps there is no solution to the absurd level of competition, but it is obvious that something needs to be done to cool the fervor of certain people in admissions offices across the country.
As an increasing number of high school students apply to college early decision, hire application counselors and do nearly anything to get an edge, LeMenager's behavior shows that competition is not limited to the applicants.
