Just in case you missed it, POTUS’ eldest daughter, Malia Obama, recently visited Brown University as a prospective option for her continued education. While there, the 17-year-old stopped by a college party where someone took a photo showing the teen standing by a beer pong table topped with red Solo cups. It was posted on Snapchat. Mainstream media outlets insinuated the first daughter was getting white girl wasted: “Malia Obama was taking shots and playing beer pong at a party last night LOL.” reported Buzzfeed. Brown’s The Daily Herald blasted students for sharing without thinking.
In an editorial titled “Sorry, Malia Obama,” which was published Tuesday, Oct. 20, The Brown Daily Herald tried to make amends in a detailed apology to Obama on behalf of the school’s students.
“The college application and selection process is stressful for most students who go through it, but one can only imagine how much the stress multiplies when the whole nation is watching. That is what Malia Obama is experiencing right now,” it read. “News outlets as prominent as the New York Times are covering her touring process, and students at elite colleges across the country cross their fingers and chat over dining hall food about how cool it would be to go to the same school as President Obama’s daughter.” it read.
The Brown editorial noted that students didn’t realize their social media posts would go viral. Really? “Some of the tweets include photographs of her that were clearly taken when she was not looking. Many of them mention her presence at a party, where she was seen taking shots and playing beer pong,” the editorial continued. “The motivation to take these pictures was obvious: being at a party with the president’s daughter was an exciting, unexpected moment that many of us wanted to share with our friends. We often do not think about our tweets and Snapchats reaching anyone besides our friends and followers, and certainly not news outlets with wide circulation like Buzzfeed. Many Brown students were surprised and embarrassed to see themselves cited in the articles, as other Brown students posted them on Facebook with disappointed captions that criticized their peers for not simply leaving the 17-year-old alone on her college visit.”
The editorial board concluded that it was “a shame” that the high school senior had no privacy during her visit. “Malia did not choose to grow up in the White House, and it is unfair that everything she does at just 17 years old is subject to such harsh scrutiny,” the editorial concluded. “While the chances of her selecting Brown have probably decreased since the publication of those articles, if she does ever come back to Brown, hopefully next time we will ‘have more chill.'”
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