Harvard withdraw admission from ten students over posting offensive meme

At least ten Harvard students in the Class of 2021 have had their acceptances rescinded after they were found to be joking about child abuse, sexual assault, and racial discrimination in a Facebook group chat, reported the student newspaper, Harvard Crimson.

The offensive material was posted by students who wanted to join a private sub-group that grew out of a messaging group set up for prospective students this year. Anyone who wants to join had to apply by posting "adult" and "provocative" memes, according to the report.

The Admissions Committee of this prestigious college has launched an investigation into the chat group right after it was formed and asked the incoming students suspected of belonging to the group to submit statements to explain their contributions.

The campus of Harvard University

One week after the investigation, at least ten students' admissions have been revoked.

This is not the first time the university investigated admitted student' posts online. Offensive content including racially-charged jokes and jokes mocking feminists was found in the group chat of students admitted in the previous year, but the students involved have not been disciplined, according to The Independent.

Free speech advocates criticized Harvard's punishment as saying it has gone too far in withdrawing the admission offer. Alan Dershowitz, a professor who lectures at Harvard Law School, said that the institution had been "intruding too deeply" into the private lives of students by censoring communications protected by free speech laws, reports The Guardian.

"It may affect them for life," he added.

(CGTN)