I would just like to say that, although Anjali has the highest GPA, she should not be considered valedictorian. The girl has no social skills. Valedictorian should go to the best all around student. Not to someone who only knows how to study. Anjali cannot carry on a funtional conversation without studdering or not talking completely.

Nicole,

Thanks for visiting my blog. However I must disagree with part of your comment. Unless the dictionary has changed the definition of “valedictorian” being well rounded isn’t a factor, it is based solely on academic performance.

Many young adults take time to come into their confidence and personalities. I do not know Anjali personally but if she does stutter (and not finish thoughts) it is something she may outgrow as she becomes a mature adult.

Hello,

Just wanted to let you know that I have written to the principal, NPR, and the national YWCA (whose goals are to end discrimination and empower women) about Ms. Datta’s plight. I am also passing on information to friends and colleagues who need to know the treatment Ms. Datta has had to endure. This is not a beauty contest nor a social club activity but an honor SOLELY based on academic accomplishment! Also, with the principal refusing to enter her name in the state scholarship award, that is pure and simple racism and discrimination - without a leg to stand on.

Newspaper articles today indicate that the Datta family is not considering legal action, but they do not understand that in this society legal action is the ONLY way to right wrongs of this type. Without the threat of monetary loss, the school board and principal will go along their merry way and ignore the outcries of the public.

I think the principal should be fired and the school board replaced (along with their wonderful lawyers), but this won’t happen unless there is money lost (or a miracle takes place).

I’m saddened and sorry to read comments like Nicole’s where discrimination is acceptable if the person is different or acts differently from the majority. (Perhaps Ms. Datta does/did not feel comfortable around Nicole - was a true effort made to help her feel comfortable or was she excluded from the get-go?)

Our society needs to learn the lessons of inclusion and love - has the South (and the rest of the US) not learned that lesson after so many years of murder, hatred, racism, and discrimination in its past? Will these actions in Texas make the US a better and stronger union of peoples? A more compassionate place to live? Not as a red or blue place but as a home for all.

We are on the brink of economic and social collapse due many things - racism - the lack of all peoples in this country being given an equal chance and esp the country’s spending of funds on non-necessary things like war, gun support, and retaining/ fostering an underclass in this country. If each of us was allowed to develop to our full potential (as Ms. Datta is trying) without educational and social programs being underfunded and people not being able to buy food, gas, or pay rent because the government cares more about making sure the rich are richer, then we would have a more just society and stronger bonds of brotherhood. (Sorry for the tangent!) We would view all people, around the world, as leaves of one branch, and sisters and brothers - not enemies or those trying to take our power and authority away.

All the best to you and for speaking out for Ms. Datta!

Thanks for listening,

Donald

Donald,

I was rather saddened when I read Nicole’s comment as well. Her personal hang ups aside, she was trying to change the definition of the word “valedictorian.”

I agree with you that Anjali Datta and her parents really do need to pursue legal action. If not for Anjali Datta herself, then for all the bright students who will follow her and could face that same problem.

Lawyers always seem to screw things up. This should be a simple matter but if it takes a judge and a large financial settlement to put the principal and school board in their place, so be it.

Thank you Donald for taking the time to write to the YWCA and NPR. Those of us who are outraged by this story should speak out. Anjali Datta deserves a scholarship.

I have also written an angry letter to the principal of this school. And I know this piece of news will spread through the South Asian American community.

R. Holland, Datta deserves a scholarship, quite LITERALLY.

As you’ll see here: http://www.dallasnews.com/shar.....lemail.pdf

Not only did they deny her valedictorian status, which, in the long-run of things, is just a title, they also denied her the state scholarship associated with being the “highest ranking graduate.”

Note…the highest ranking graduate. Not the “valedictorian as determined by a hodge-podge of idiot attorneys.”

They denied the scholarship to her (the power of denial was solely on the local level, as the principal makes clear) because of their “precedent.”

Mind-boggling.

Yea Anjali may be the smartest girl ever but you have to consider that she is a total wierdo freak. I mean, what kind of loser wastes their highschool years studying for countless hours and going to match club competitions???? She hasnt ever even been to a football game or even to a school dance….. She didnt even show up for the senior prom!!
Trust me i go to her school and she has NO FRIENDS AT ALL! If you mention the word nerd or ugly then the first thing people say is Anjali…. Yea so I agree with the school board. Too bad for her. Why dont you go study some more Anjali….. ^^

There is no requirement to be a social butterfly in order to be the class valedictorian. Anjali may not be well rounded socially, she be shy or just prefer being by herself.

The world needs broad base of diversified people. If we were all great athletes it wouldn’t be an accomplishment, it would be average.

Some people are born stars, some are born athletes, and some are born to advance humanity by pursuing knowledge.

When you go to the doctor’s office do you want to see the doctor who reads all the current medical studies and attends boring conferences OR do you want to see the doctor who plays poker with the guys and gets banged up every weekend playing sports? The second doctor may be popular but do you really want him cutting you open the morning after he was bar hopping?

I am simply amazed at the ignorance displayed by many of these posts. I was not aware that “valedictorian” was based on social standing or number of friends…otherwise I’m sure Tila Tequila would have been the valedictorian of her high school. It is an academic honor and it should be awarded to the student who has fulfilled the graduation requirements with the highest cumulative average.

Also, as the other Dallas-area recepient of this year’s Dedman scholarship, I had the privilege of spending the interview weekend with Anjali and 27 other outstanding kids who were finalists for the two most prestigious entrance schlolarships awarded by the University of Texas. The impression you are giving is not the one that I got of Anjali, or indeed of any of the finalists. Each and every student was not only capable of, but demonstrated, the ability to speak and converse eloquently and intelligently. Anjali’s academic record is outstanding–her exemplary performance at a large, academically competitive high school like Grapevine was unmatched by ANY of the finalists. My own stats in the classroom pale in comparison. However, were her extracurricular performance, community service, and interview performance not equally outstanding, she would not have received the Dedman Distinguished Scholarship. Perhaps if you actually talked with Anjali (or had a subject actually worth discussing rather than engaging in catty gossip) you might find the engaging person that I and the rest of the finalists at the interview weekend were introduced to.

Robert and Nancy Dedman ought to be praised for their philanthrophy, which has encouraged so many top young students from Texas and beyond, and which has done what Dr. Hollingsworth and the GCISD board did not have the guts to do, which is reward Anjali for her excellence in and outside of the classroom.

I have to agree with Chris. I met Anjali at the SMU Presidential Scholar’s weekend, and she was one of the most friendly people I have met. Unlike some other “high-achieving” students I have ran into in the past, she doesn’t give off an air of arrogance that is sometimes associated with very accomplished kids. I’m glad to hear that she was rightfully honored by UT, even though one of my own friends was a finalist for the Dedman scholarship.

I graduated in the top ten from Grapevine High School in the same year as Anjali Datta. I believe both Anjali and Tyler earned valedictorian status, although Anjali should have gotten the scholarship as well. But she’s already received the prestigious Dedman Scholarsip to UT so if I were her, I would not get too upset over such a minor technicality. It’s just high school anyway.

To Nicole and Anjalihater. Why are you attacking her for her social skills? I know Anjali personally and I found her to be a very polite and kind-hearted young lady. What do popularity, football games, and senior prom have to do with the valedictorian issue? Just because she is different from you means that she deserves your name-calling? It seems to me that she is clearly more hard-working, intelligent, sincere, and talented than both of you. You two probably are addicted to partying and likely made C’s and D’s in high school so I guess that explains your hard feelings.