Louis Capozzi | Privilege or burden

Citizen Capozzi | Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, like Penn legacy students, confront mixed blessing of family accomplishments

By Louis Capozzi 08/31/15 12:25am

In the college application process, there are always applicants with an advantage. Some students get a perfect 2400 on their SATs, while others win an international science competition.

And, of course, there are the legacies.

Legacies have an undeniable advantage in gaining admission to Penn. This advantage is especially clear in early admissions, where just under 50 percent of legacy applicants were admitted for the Class of 2018. This legacy advantage also exists outside of Penn. Researcher Michael Hurwitz recently found that legacy students were 45 percent more likely to be admitted to the nation’s top 30 schools, an advantage worth an added 160 points on the SAT.

If the 2016 presidential election were a college admissions process, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush would be the legacy candidates. While there are important differences between Clinton and Bush, both come from powerful families with presidential alumni.

Legacy status, even without an explicit competitive edge, provides important implicit advantages in college and politics. Legacy students are more likely to grow up wealthy, get a good education and have access to networks of influential people. For legacy politicians, the advantages are similar.

Just as legacy students probably won’t fail on standardized tests for financial reasons, Hillary and Jeb won’t lose in 2016 for a lack of money. Aided by family networks, Jeb Bush has raised almost $100 million while Hillary Clinton has fundraised “like no one before [her] with a dearth of caution that boggles the mind,” as journalist Frank Bruni quipped.

Additionally, Hillary and Jeb’s legacy statuses grant them access to their families’ political networks. The vast majority of Jeb Bush’s foreign policy advisors previously worked for his father and/or brother while Hillary Clinton inherited her husband’s political allies, including Virginia governor Terry McAulife and CNN commentator Paul Begala. Legacy students can also benefit from family networks. College senior Aidan McConnell, whose father graduated from Wharton in 1988 and whose mother graduated from the College in 1987, recognized this. “Through my mom, I knew of fraternities like St. A’s, I knew the general social scene and I was familiar with the Political Science Department.” Just like legacy students, Hillary and Jeb have an insider’s edge in 2016.

For all the advantages that legacy status brings both students and politicians, there are also unique challenges. Legacy students often face intense pressure from their parents, who often directly and indirectly influence their children’s career paths. College junior Samuel Byers, whose father graduated from Wharton in 1987, hints at such indirect influence, noting that his father “was involved in the first ILMUNC, so now that I am here, I’ve always wanted to do similar things.” Byers added that his father is “very proud of that and the things he did at Penn. Twenty-five years down the line, I’d like to feel similarly proud.” Legacy politicians face similar pressures; the Bush family long assumed Jeb would run for the presidency before his brother, former President George W. Bush, did.

In both college and politics, legacies can feel subject to a higher standard. A College sophomore, who wished to remain anonymous and whose parents both attended Penn, explained that “fulfilling his parents’ expectations is [his] life’s biggest challenge.” He went on to recount how, even though he was excited to attend the University of Chicago after being admitted early, his parents “pushed [him] to go to Penn.” His parents “created a standard [he] had to fulfill.” In the presidential race, Jeb Bush seems aware of the burden that comes with having his last name. In the first Republican primary debate, Bush acknowledged, “I’m gonna have to earn this. Maybe the barrier — the bar’s even higher for me. That’s fine.”

Are Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush unsuitable to be president because they belong to political families? Certainly not, as both have experience and impressive qualifications. Likewise, most legacy students here at Penn deserve to be here and studies show that they generally perform on the same level as non-legacy students. Legacies like Aidan McConnell assume little. “You certainly have a small advantage getting in, but once you’re here, it’s a meritocracy and mommy and daddy aren’t gonna bail you out. I’m no more coddled than anyone else.” Just like legacy students, Hillary and Jeb have a lot of hard work ahead to prove they belong. Their future legacy depends on it.

LOUIS CAPOZZI is a College senior from Mechanicsburg, Pa., studying classics and history. His email address is capozzil@sas.upenn.edu. “Citizen Capozzi” appears every other Monday.

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