Should this scholarship be awarded?

CDR Laurel Meadows — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 12:46:38 -0400

http://rare.us/story/this-teenager-thought-the-navy-had-given-him-the-opportunity-of-a-lifetime-until-he-was-told-it-was-all-a-mistake/

This teenager thought the Navy had given him the opportunity of a lifetime - until he was told it...

He was publicly awarded a $180,000 scholarship.

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Aug 3 at 2015 12:59 PM

SCPO David Lockwood — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 12:59:34 -0400

Not his fault!

Response by Capt Mark Strobl made Aug 3 at 2015 1:00 PM

Capt Mark Strobl — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:00:53 -0400

First, I'd categorize this under the "oops" tab. As this year's freshmen prepare to hit our nation's campuses, the Navy better hurry up on a decision. Very, very unfortunate.

Response by COL Jean (John) F. B. made Aug 3 at 2015 1:01 PM

COL Jean (John) F. B. — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:01:21 -0400

CDR Laurel Meadows - Probably need more information about the "error" to render an educated opinion, however, based on the sketchy information in the article, my gut reaction is that the Navy should make good on its offer to the student.

If the student meets the qualifications for the scholarship and received it through no deceit/fraud, he should keep it. It sounds like an administrative issue (i.e., notified the wrong person, awarded more than the budget allowed, etc.), which is not the recipient's fault.

Once the whole story is told, one can be in a better position to render an opinion.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 3 at 2015 1:03 PM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:03:57 -0400

Sadly, the military has been my career since Highschool and I'm not too savvy on the scholarship process (Although I should start looking into it).

When applying to a college and they start asking for how everything will be paid, I'm assuming you have to fill in a few forms, stating the origin of income, etc.

During this process shouldn't the College have also ran a check to make sure the information was valid?

But, either way, I'm sure after seeing $180k, they immediately dropped the other school as an option and went for the new scholarship. While if it was me, I'd keep my options open cause I know how things can go south quickly, I would have kept the other school on the table and not withdraw until I was absoleutly confident that I would be getting my scholarship.

Do I think the Navy should pay the young man? No. While that appears as a mean, and un-caring thing to say...We're still reeling from sequestration and government spending going haywire; even small ammounts of $180k matter.

On the other hand, the Navy can take the chance and invest in the young man and hope he still feels like joining after his time in College and becomes one of the top members of their Officer Corps, but I honestly don't see that as a high chance. We have too little information about the man.

I hope things work in favor of both, maybe a reduced scholarship to amend the issues, and possibly some sort of disciplinary actions on whoever allowed the scholarship to accidently go to the wrong person.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 3 at 2015 1:09 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:09:49 -0400

Unless there is more to this story, they definitely should follow through. They extended a conditional offer, and he met the condition (enrolling at a school with an ROTC program). If they renege, not only is it unfair to the student, it's also a PR nightmare for the Navy.

Response by SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA made Aug 3 at 2015 1:10 PM

SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:10:07 -0400

It's simple.

The Navy has ruined this young man future prospects, by making him loose his previous scholarship.

The fact this kid already had a scholarship tells me he is a go getter. The Navy obviously saw something in him.

As always, Services are really quick to ruin people financially and veeeery slooow to fix it when it happens.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Aug 3 at 2015 1:12 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:12:34 -0400

Gut reaction. When you make these kind of announcements in Public (as opposed to private notifications), people will make plans accordingly. A Public announcement is a "firm offer" and the student had a pretty good expectation that it wouldn't be rescinded at the last second.

I get clerical errors. They happen. The beauty of the US government, is that we have enough Power & Money to fix them, and then hold accountable the idiot who made them. It shouldn't be the "victim" of them.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Aug 3 at 2015 1:16 PM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:16:06 -0400

It isn't possible to say from an article on Rare. They are a publicity hungry ad-based service, and not really a news service. Has this story been verified by any independent sources? Why did they deny him the scholarship, if it was truly awarded? Did he have an actual acceptance letter or was this a "verbal promise"? We know how good those are - my recruiter promised me free healthcare for life from the military. Fat chance of that too...

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 3 at 2015 1:16 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:16:17 -0400

I don't know what the error was but if his expectation of the scholarship was realistic (not something like he has a 2.0 GPA and miserable SAT which I doubt) then it should be awarded.

Response by SGT Kristin Wiley made Aug 3 at 2015 1:48 PM

SGT Kristin Wiley — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:48:47 -0400

There is very limited information in this article. Like, how did this mistake happen? It could have been a simple misinterpretation of what was offered. It's hard to tell with the small quantity of information.

Response by MSgt James Mullis made Aug 3 at 2015 2:53 PM

MSgt James Mullis — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 14:53:44 -0400

Interestingly enough, this is not the first time this has happened to someone receiving a Navy scholarship. In a previous case the scholarship was revoked for medical reasons when a prior back injury was discovered during her entry physical. In that case the scholarship was re-issued when the family was able to prove their was no long term disability.

http://archive.navytimes.com/article/20070828/NEWS/708280321/Scholarship-awarded-revoked-offered-again

Response by PO1 Shahida Marmol made Aug 3 at 2015 4:54 PM

PO1 Shahida Marmol — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 16:54:12 -0400

If they don't make good on this deal, they are possibly ruining his life. He worked hard to earn the 24k scholarship and that is now lost, because he trusted the Navy would make good on their promise. I really hope someone does the right thing here. It would be terrible to see someone who worked so hard lose everything on the account of someone else's error.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 3 at 2015 5:23 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 17:23:59 -0400

Unfortunately this is pretty normal for the DoD. In 1999 the USAF "mistakenly" awarded around 500 scholarships and then took them back claiming it was an admin error.

Response by PO2 Peter Klein made Aug 5 at 2015 9:14 AM

PO2 Peter Klein — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 09:14:09 -0400

Was it a "real" offer? Was there a paper trail?

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 6 at 2015 1:00 AM

PO1 John Miller — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 01:00:09 -0400

I definitely need more information on this one before rendering an opinion. I tried looking it up online but could only find the story posted on what I would consider an unverified source.

With that said, if it IS true the Navy should fulfill its responsibility and award this kid a scholarship.

If it is false, as Ricky Ricardo once said, someone "has some 'splaining to do!"

Response by SPC Thomas Baldwin made Aug 6 at 2015 2:21 AM

SPC Thomas Baldwin — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 02:21:26 -0400

More information is needed for this issue. The young man appeirs to plan to be in the Navy and has put in the ground work to make that happen. I still think he will join the Navy if this doesn't go in his favor. But it is a bit of a slap in the face to this young man. On top of that he may have lost the other scholarship in the mean time, then what?

Response by CDR Michael Goldschmidt made Aug 10 at 2015 6:26 AM

CDR Michael Goldschmidt — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 06:26:50 -0400

There's a valuable lesson here, especially if he doesn't receive the scholarship. Anyone care to venture what I mean?