The Union College Forum on Constructive Engagement presents “Cheaters, Felons, and Abusers: Second Chances for the Hardest Cases” with Hanna Stotland, admissions consultant, and Theodore O’Neill former dean of admissions at the University of Chicago on Tuesday, May 26, at 5 p.m.
Zoom link: https://union.zoom.us/j/98916339514
Questions can be submitted in advance.
The Forum on Constructive Engagement is supported by the Williams Legacy Foundation through a gift by Kelly Williams '86 and her husband Andrew Forsyth.
Stotland and O’Neill, both veterans of higher education, will share their perspectives on giving second chances to students who have been expelled from colleges and universities for, among others, Title IX and honor code offenses.
Stotland flunked out of high school, got a G.E.D., and earned undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard. Her experience as a troubled teen who overcame her mistakes gives her unusual sensitivity to the challenges young people face. Since 1999, she has been an independent admissions consultant specializing in educational crisis management. She helps students continue their educations after interruptions due to school discipline, mental illness, substance abuse or criminal charges. She has worked with dozens of students accused under Title IX, as well as students who have survived sexual assault. She has also worked with six of the families involved in the “Varsity Blues” admissions scandal. She is a frequent presenter at national associations for admissions counselors and education consultants.
O’Neill is the senior admissions counselor at Bard College Berlin. Previously, he was the dean of admissions at the University of Chicago from 1987 until 2007. He also taught as a lecturer in humanities at the University of Chicago. In 2013 he was awarded the Excellence in Education award by the National Association of Admissions Counselors, and was the first admissions dean to have been awarded their highest honor. He has been a frequent speaker and writer on college admissions. He studied in the Chicago Public Schools, attended Michigan State University where he was Phi Beta Kappa and earned a bachelor’s in American Studies, and then earned a master’s in English from the University of Chicago.