HOUSTON – A group of TV anchors from the Fox News affiliate in Washington D.C. are under fire after they criticized a Texas teen for applying to 20 colleges and getting into each with full-ride scholarships.
Micheal Brown, a senior at Lamar High School in Houston, was accepted into 20 top universities including Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford and received full-ride scholarships to each.
On Tuesday, FOX 5 DC morning anchors Holly Morris and Allison Seymour and podcast host Sarah Fraser discussed Brown's accomplishments, but shifted to the topic of the number of universities a student should apply to.
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During the conversation, Fraser asked Morris and Seymour whether they "think it's a little ridiculous this kid applied to 20 (schools), taking away a spot and basically waitlisting another kid."
Morris replied that while some may not agree with her, "It's ridiculous that he applied to 20 schools." Morris stated that Brown's accomplishment would have been just as impressive had he applied to five or 10 schools and that many college readiness websites indicate students should apply to four to eight schools.
Fraser then asks whether they thought Brown applying to 20 schools was a "little obnoxious," to which Morris replied "I think it's a little obnoxious because you can only go to one. You can only take one full ride and you are taking a spot from someone else who works really hard."
Seymour countered that if Brown didn't take the full ride, the scholarship would go "back into the pot."
Morris said the best thing about Brown's story is that "19 kids come off the waitlist."
Many have taken issue with the anchors' criticism of Brown applying to 20 schools and have attacked the idea that Brown took a spot from another student.
Morris has stood by her position on Twitter and Seymour has not been active on social media since the controversial "Tuesday Talkers" segment, but Fraser tweeted Brown an apology. Brown responded that he accepted her apology.
I also said he is an amazing young man. This is not a racial issue. I would have the exact same opinion if the boy was white. https://t.co/gq8Edty0s8
— Holly Morris (@HollyLiveFox5DC) April 4, 2018