Harvard University has rescinded its acceptance of Kyle Kashuv, a pro-Second Amendment survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting, a month after online comments he made in high school repeatedly using the N word resurfaced on social media.
Kashuv shared the university’s decision in a series of tweets on Monday morning. The 18-year-old posted a letter Harvard sent him in late May, asking him to explain his comments and saying it reserved the right to pull its acceptance of students that “engage or have engaged in behavior that brings into question your honesty, maturity, or moral character.”
Last month, text messages surfaced showing Kashuv had used the slur “n—–“ repeatedly when talking to other classmates online two years earlier.
Soon after, Kashuv sent Harvard a letter stating he “unequivocally” apologized for the comments “which were made two years ago in private among equally immature high school students.”
“I understand Harvard’s concern over these offensive statements from my past, and I further understand that Harvard has been contacted about them by people expressing concern about them,” Kashuv said in the letter, which he posted on Twitter on Monday. “I am very sorry to have put the College in this position. I am determined to take whatever steps are necessary to rectify this past wrong and to reassure Harvard of my commitment to values of tolerance, diversity, and inclusion.”
Kashuv also tweeted that he sent an email to Harvard’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion for guidance on how to best respond to the issue.
Harvard, in a letter sent on June 3, said it appreciated Kashuv’s “candor,” but decided to revoke his admission. Kashuv said he asked Harvard for an in-person interview following its decision, but the university declined.
7/ Harvard decided to rescind my admission with the following letter. pic.twitter.com/P3bLkF3hHn
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) June 17, 2019
Out of the Parkland survivors who became media fixtures in 2018, Kashuv stood out as a pro-gun, conservative alternative to peers like David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez.
Kashuv tweeted that if any institution should understand “growth,” it is Harvard, pointing to the university’s history of employing “slave owners, segregationists, and antisemites.”
The Atlantic pointed out Kashuv’s revoked admission isn’t unprecedented. Two years ago, Harvard rescinded offers to 10 students who were part of a Facebook meme group that shared posts deemed anti-Jewish and sexist.