Admission revoked: Be careful what you post online
Even very clever people can be stupid. This is the lesson learned by ten high school students in the USA who had just been accepted into one of the top Ivy League universities, Harvard.
LISTEN: Social Media Law Expert Verlie Oosthuizen weighs in on the subject matter
Some Harvard students, who had seen the content of the group, reported it to university officials, who took swift action against the teenagers requesting a full explanation for the offensive material. Obviously, the explanation was not satisfactory and they lost their places at Harvard. One of the clauses in the admissions policy states that “...Harvard reserves the right to withdraw its offers of acceptance if an "admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character."
Young people in South Africa are starting to secure their places in universities for the coming years and would be well advised to be very careful not to make the same mistakes as these students in the USA. Our universities have similar provisions regarding admission and will often specify that an offer of admission can be revoked. Nobody should be jeopardising their future for a silly meme.
Verlie Oosthuizen
Shepstone & Wylie Social Media Law Department