Poison Ivy: How Elite Colleges Divide Us

An eye-opening look at how Americas elite colleges and suburbs help keep the rich rich-making it harder than ever to fight the inequality that divides usHailed as a staggering portrait of inequality in America (Philip Dray) Poison Ivy tells the bigger, seedier story of how elite colleges create paths to admission available only to the wealthy, despite rhetoric to the contrary. In a lively and trenchant (Washington Monthly) account, Evan Mandery reveals how tacit agreements between exclusive Ivy-plus schools and white affluent suburbs create widespread de facto segregation. And as a college degree continues to be the surest route to upward mobility, the inequality bred in our broken higher education system is now a principal driver of skyrocketing income inequality everywhere. Mandery-a Harvard graduate and current professor at a public college that serves low- and middle-income students-contrasts the lip service paid to opportunity by so many elite colleges and universities with schools that actually walk the walk.Poison Ivy is a no-holds-barred take-down (Forbes) that synthesizes fascinating insider information on everything from how students are evaluated, unfair tax breaks, and questionable fundraising practices to suburban rituals, testing, tutoring, tuition schemes, and more. This bold, provocative indictment of Americas elite colleges shows us exactly whats at stake-and what will be possible if we muster the collective will to transform it.Next Big Idea Book Club Nominee October 2022An eye-opening look at how Americas elite colleges and suburbs help keep the rich rich-making it harder than ever to fight the inequality dividing us todayThe front-page news and the trials that followed Operation Varsity Blues were just the tip of the iceberg. Poison Ivy tells the bigger, seedier story of how elite colleges create paths to admission available only to the wealthy, despite rhetoric to the contrary. Evan Mandery reveals how tacit agreements between exclusive Ivy-plus schools and white affluent suburbs create widespread de facto segregation. And as a college degree continues to be the surest route to upward mobility, the inequality bred in our broken higher education system is now a principal driver of skyrocketing income inequality everywhere.Mandery-a professor at a public college that serves low- and middle-income students-contrasts the lip service paid to opportunity by so many elite colleges and universities with schools that actually walk the walk. Weaving in shocking data and captivating interviews with students and administrators alike, Poison Ivy also synthesizes fascinating insider information on everything from how students are evaluated, unfair tax breaks, and questionable fundraising practices to suburban rituals, testing, tutoring, tuition schemes, and more. This bold, provocative indictment of Americas elite colleges shows us whats at stake in a faulty system-and what will be possible if we muster the collective will to transform it.