How Do You Feel About Going to Graduate School With Someone Convicted of a Crime?

[GradSchoolGrad]

I wonder how people feel about going to graduate school with a peer or peers who have been convicted of a crime? I haven't fully formulated an opinion, but just curious what others think.

I will say that:

1. In one of my graduate programs, there was story (no one ever confirmed it) that there was once a student who was recently released from prison after committing white collar crime and graduated with a previous class. The general consensus was that they were glad the person got a 2nd chance in life after doing time.

2. In another of my graduate programs, one of my peers openly acknowledged and arguably bragged about having been convicted of Federal violation. Since this was a policy program, I was rather concerned if this was propagating bad ethics among our program. In all fairness to the program, my peer claimed claimed that no disclosure was made during the graduate school application. 

Edited July 27, 2020 by GradSchoolGrad

[Ventus Hermetis]

Wouldn't that depend on the crime?

Generally, I don't care.

[epistemicjustice]

If your grad cohort is large enough, there is almost certainly someone in it, if not multiple, who has committed sexual assault. I know that's different than a conviction, but they still did a very serious crime. 

[earlycalifornia]

this shouldn’t be a problem at all. it’s troubling that there is a question about whether such people should be stigmatized in higher education more than they already are. being convicted of a crime isn’t the same as having “bad ethics”

[Boolakanaka]

On 7/26/2020 at 10:11 PM, GradSchoolGrad said:

I wonder how people feel about going to graduate school with a peer or peers who have been convicted of a crime? I haven't fully formulated an opinion, but just curious what others think.

I will say that:

1. In one of my graduate programs, there was story (no one ever confirmed it) that there was once a student who was recently released from prison after committing white collar crime and graduated with a previous class. The general consensus was that they were glad the person got a 2nd chance in life after doing time.

2. In another of my graduate programs, one of my peers openly acknowledged and arguably bragged about having been convicted of Federal violation. Since this was a policy program, I was rather concerned if this was propagating bad ethics among our program. In all fairness to the program, my peer claimed claimed that no disclosure was made during the graduate school application. 

In all of my graduate and/or professional programs (three of them) there have been convicted felons (and a couple of them had their convictions erased and/or overturned along the way) ranging from serial bank robbers to manslaughter. 
 

All told, they added much to the program and a rare and unique  perspective, often vastly different from the  persnickety affectations of an Ivy/elite education. Several of whom I was actually pretty tight with and they had unusual close relationships—for instance the bank robber was very close to a former NYC police detective and a night out with those two always resulted in the missing of any morning classes.

Perhaps my take is different than others, but being a man of color who grew up in a rough public housing, they often times more resembled my own upbringing and an actually a respite from the tight formulations and attitudes of academia. Finally, for me,  what is the purpose of a stint in a correctional institution if not to correct and rehabilitate and offer the chance to move-on. This in and itself speaks to some of the institutional bias that we are grappling with as a nation...

[Boolakanaka]

2 hours ago, earlycalifornia said:

this shouldn’t be a problem at all. it’s troubling that there is a question about whether such people should be stigmatized in higher education more than they already are. being convicted of a crime isn’t the same as having “bad ethics”

Well said. 

[Adelaide9216]

It depends on the type of crime, the circumstances and my general feeling around the person. Otherwise, I don't care. Unless there's an immediate/direct threat to people's safety, it's none of my business.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Adelaide9216

[Adelaide9216]

On 7/29/2020 at 2:17 PM, epistemicjustice said:

If your grad cohort is large enough, there is almost certainly someone in it, if not multiple, who has committed sexual assault. I know that's different than a conviction, but they still did a very serious crime. 

Yes. This. And most of the time, they've never been convicted for it.  Sexual violence is almost entirely decriminalized in America/Canada when you look at the numbers. The people who are actually dangereous are not always the ones most people would think of !