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Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - TreesAndBirds - 06-09-2017


http://abcnews.go.com/US/homeless-teen-accepted-stanford-university/story?id=47943441

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - Farm93 - 06-10-2017

Pretty amazing to me that she was able to stay #1 in her class while all of that was going on the her life. 

The article claimed the Stanford University part was the most important thing.  I understand that comment, but the more important things to me were her ability to stay in school, keep up academically and apparently stay involved in clubs too.  Stanford, Duke, UNC, UNCC or any other school would have been fine as I am sure her drive will allow her to thrive at any school.

I can only imagine the type of reality check she will offer to those that might come to The Farm and complain that they weren't allowed to bring their SUV to campus or grumble that their dorm is too far away from their first morning class.

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - Erika - 06-10-2017

What a great story.  I know the year I was accepted was the same year Robert Kennedy Jr. was rejected.  I was from a farm in Montana and had no connections or family fortune. I did have a thriving taxidermy business but that was about it. Whereas Robert Kennedy Jr???? It always made me feel Stanford was above being bought and how really special the University is.

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - ca245 - 06-10-2017

IIRC, this is not the first time Stanford accepted a homeless student. Some 15 (?) years ago or so, another homeless girl was accepted. I believe she was from somewhere in CA. I first read about it in a local paper and, later, Stanford Magazine had a story on her Stanford experience.

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - Nan3cy - 06-10-2017

(06-10-2017, 10:38 AM)ca245 link Wrote:IIRC, this is not the first time Stanford accepted a homeless student. Some 15 (?) years ago or so, another homeless girl was accepted. I believe she was from somewhere in CA. I first read about it in a local paper and, later, Stanford Magazine had a story on her Stanford experience.

It was closer to 30 years ago. She was in the same dorm as the son of a friend of mine. She and her family had been living in a homeless shelter for a while and then her father became the handyman for the shelter. They still lived there, but I think had their own quarters. I think it was in far southern CA. I remember an interview with her when she said her dorm room in Lagunita was so quiet she had a hard time studying; she'd gotten completely accustomed to studying with her younger siblings making a racket all around her.

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - DC 86 - 06-10-2017

(06-10-2017, 10:59 AM)Nan3cy link Wrote:[quote author=ca245 link=topic=16968.msg194658#msg194658 date=1497116331]
IIRC, this is not the first time Stanford accepted a homeless student. Some 15 (?) years ago or so, another homeless girl was accepted. I believe she was from somewhere in CA. I first read about it in a local paper and, later, Stanford Magazine had a story on her Stanford experience.

It was closer to 30 years ago. She was in the same dorm as the son of a friend of mine. She and her family had been living in a homeless shelter for a while and then her father became the handyman for the shelter. They still lived there, but I think had their own quarters. I think it was in far southern CA. I remember an interview with her when she said her dorm room in Lagunita was so quiet she had a hard time studying; she'd gotten completely accustomed to studying with her younger siblings making a racket all around her.
[/quote]

Indeed, it was in the late 1980s; Lupe Vasquez had been living in a homeless shelter in Oxnard before moving into her freshman dorm.

http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19891002-01.2.2&srpos=65&e=------198-en-20--61--txt-txIN-homeless------

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-09-10/local/me-181_1_stanford-university

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - akiddoc - 06-10-2017

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-10/local/me-63262_1_homeless-colleges-shelter

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - Mick - 06-11-2017

The Stanford of the East has had a few similar students:

Dawn Loggins:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article9131816.html
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/07/us/from-janitor-to-harvard/

Elizabeth Murray:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Murray

And this fall, Jorge Campos.  Formerly homeless, took over family's finances:
http://pix11.com/2017/05/17/formerly-homeless-teen-set-to-enroll-at-harvard-university-this-fall/

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - Bruce Wang - 06-11-2017

(06-10-2017, 09:59 AM)RodentMaven link Wrote:It always made me feel Stanford was above being bought and how really special the University is.

There is good evidence this is the case with the notable example being Larry Ellison withdrawing his announced donation after Stanford refused to bind them contractually to accept his children. There are also rumors that the family behind China's Soho property development group wanted the same deal with Stanford, but Stanford refused to sign a contract promising their daughter a spot.  Their daughter ended up going to Harvard, suggesting that Harvard will cut such deals.  Jared Kushner is probably the best known example of such transactions.

I am a graduate of both schools and a close observer of both  This particular difference is cultural and stems from the DNA of the schools.  Stanford was founded upon an act of generosity.  Harvard was founded to perpetuate the wealth and power of its community.

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - 81alum - 06-11-2017

Homeless students, alas, are not that uncommon at American universities.  The student body president at my place of work was living out of her car for a time.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/07/24/homeless-and-hungry-in-college-not-just-a-ramen-noodle-problem/
She helped publicize the issue and we have done a much better job identifying who these students are and trying to get them help.  Stats are hard to come by, but at least dozens.  I personally have known several of them.

Homelessness among current Stanford students is probably non existent, due to the effective financial aid and housing systems.

Homelessness among Stanford's admitted applicants provides some heart warming anecdotes, but it should not obscure the fact that Stanford and the other elites continue to have a poor record, relative to the publics, of economic diversity.  Lots and lots of complex reasons for that of course, but Stanford hovers around 15% on both Pell grant recipients and first gen college students.

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - Hurlburt88 - 06-11-2017

Close friend of mine chose to live out of his truck one year of his PhD to save a bit of extra money.  Never seemed to bother him one bit--I was never able to draw any broad conclusions from this one example. 

Re: Homeless teen accepted at Stanford. - BostonCard - 06-12-2017

Somewhat related to this post, here's a nice piece by a Stanford student.  He was not homeless, or even poor (true middle class would be the best descriptor), but he talks about his experience as a student at Stanford (and before that at a boarding school).

https://stanfordpolitics.com/the-aristocracy-that-let-me-in-f9c4a3695b1b

BC