We are all to familiar with the current global crisis of Ebola. The virus has made a fast appearance in sporadic countries, including the United States. We are often told to avoid contamination as best as possible by frequently washing our hands, avoiding sick people and minimizing international travel. These precautions are standard and necessary however, are we, as a people, beginning to take things too far? In a recent Yahoo! article (attached below), Nigerian students were rejected from universities because they are from an "Ebola country".
After reading the article, I am honestly in disbelief that a college would overtly claim that they rejected the student by claiming, "Navarro College is not accepting international students from countries with confirmed Ebola cases." Much like all situations, there are two sides to this story.
On one hand, one may argue that this is complete discrimination. A student was not accepted into a college because of Ebola. Not that the student has Ebola, but rather came from a country that did. One must consider that there was a case of Ebola in the United States in Texas. Yet that does not mean the college stopped accepting American students. The student was not even rejected off of grades, standardized test scores, extra curricular activities or "pizzaz". A college destroyed the future of a young and aspiring student because they came from a country with an Ebola outbreak.
On the other hand, this act may also be seen as cautious and judicious. The college wants to prevent further outbreak of the virus, enabling a safe environment for the students. Also, by rejecting the students, the college helps to contain the disease, therefore, declining the contagion process.
When questioned about the blunt and Draconian rejection letter issued by Navarro College, the Vice President of Access and Accountability, Dewayne Gragg tried to divert from the topic by claiming that the letter was a misunderstanding. However, there is little to misinterpret about rejecting students from, "... Countries with confirmed Ebola cases." Moreover, as a unit, we must inquire how just it is to reject students from college because of a disease they do not have.
URL to article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/texas-college-bans-students-ebola-215612192.html
