Autum Ashante, a highly academically accomplished 13-year-old from the Bronx, N.Y.,planned to start her freshman year at the University of Connecticut this fall. Now, her father says the school has rescinded their acceptance, the New York Daily News reports.
Batin Ashante said his daughter was “devastated” after university officials called him yesterday to deliver the bad news.
“They said they now feel she’s not academically ready,” he said. “That’s B.S.!”
When the story was first reported in mid-June, UCONN Spokesman Richard Veilleaux confirmed Autum had been accepted to the school but said university officials were still waiting for the family to formally enroll. Autum — a homeschooled student widely described as a “prodigy,” who speaks three languages and has an IQ of 149 — was widely praised by the media and blogosphere.
“I’ve got nothing but positive feedback,” her father told the Daily News. “I’m her dad and it just bothers me to see her go through this.” He said the family had notified the school she’d be attending, raised funds for tuition, and planned to move to Connecticut. They’ll still go after receiving this news, but will explore other academic options. “I’m fed up. They have insulted us and the work that we’ve put in,” he added. “I’m not sure I want her to be involved with an institution that treats her like that.”
Aren’t decisions about college preparedness generally made during the admissions process, not after? It sounds like someone connected to U-Conn obviously wasn’t “ready” to do the task assigned to them, and it wasn’t Autum.
