Poison Ivy by Evan Mandery

POISON IVY by Evan Mandery is subtitled “How Elite Colleges Divide Us” and its publication seems appropriately timed to coincide with both the frenzied application season and the recent Supreme Court arguments on affirmative action. Mandery is a Harvard graduate and college professor, but his upbringing was more middle class than that of many Harvard students where he notes that the “the average family income … [for] the class of 2013 was $505,000 per year.” POISON IVY focuses on economic inequality and is published by The New Press whose stated mission is to “promote and enrich public discussion and understanding of the issues vital to our democracy and to a more equitable world.” In it, Manderly argues that “the United States maintains an apartheid educational system” and questions: “What if America looks the way it does because elite colleges look the way they do?” He offers both statistical evidence and anecdotes, many from his students at City University of New York (CUNY). In particular, Manderly contrasts the opportunities between private, elite schools and public universities. He also notes inherent biases in hiring within the legal profession (quoting Supreme Court Justice Scalia), investment banking, and consulting industries. Another section references work by Kirsten Hextrum (Special Admission) which looks at who really benefits from combining elite academics and elite athletics. POISON IVY contains a list of recommended reading, extensive notes and sources, and a helpful index with notations for figures and tables. Overall, this is an eye-opening read and will be of immense interest to our students who research education and income inequality. Some related shorter pieces include work by Raj Chetty and John Friedman, Sophie Callcott’s guest essay titled “There’s still one big trick for getting into an elite college” and Ben Sasse’s commentary on the purpose of a university. Interested readers should consider pairing POISON IVY with 2014’s Excellent Sheep or the more recent After the Ivory Tower Falls.