(Half) Nigerian Quadruplets Accepted to Yale Make History



The kids in the Crouch clan of Connecticut have made theirs a history-making family.

The 18-year-old black quadruplets have all been accepted into Yale University simultaneously for the class of 2014. And today, Ray, Kenny, Carol and Martina Crouch are making headlines across the country.

“The Crouches’ perfect batting average represents a first for Yale — the first time in anyone’s memory that it has offered admission to quadruplets. It is also, of course, no small milestone for the siblings, who were born more than two months premature,” The New York Times reported.

“But whether any one of them, let alone all four, winds up at Yale remains an open question. Under Yale’s early-admission program, accepted applicants can apply to other colleges and need not make up their minds until May 1. For one thing, money is still an issue. With a father who works for the State of Connecticut as a case manager in the Department of Mental Health, and a stay-at-home mother who is studying for her master’s degree in social work, the quadruplets say their decision will be heavily influenced by financial aid,” according to the newspaper.

“We have to be practical,” Kenny Crouch told the Times.

The mother of the quadruplets, Caroline, who is Nigerian-American, told a reporter that she was so excited when she learned about the Yale admissions, that she wrestled her husband to the floor.

"My husband and I are very, very proud to see them and what they have accomplished," she told a local newspaper.

In an e-mail message to the Times, Jeffrey Brenzel, the dean of admissions at Yale, said, “Their applications were terrific, and we simply hope that they will all decide to come!”

The Times said more than 200 readers wrote comments about the Crouch teenagers – and, unfortunately, some racial rhetoric was part of the discussion.

“An overwhelming majority of comments were expressions of congratulations to the Crouch children and their parents,” a Times reporter wrote. “I regret, though, that some of the comments were laced with a racially tinged meanness suggesting that the siblings had only been admitted en masse to Yale because of their skin color. While their mother is black and from Nigeria, their father is white and from Danbury.”

One commenter, identified only as “M Kaplan,” wrote, “I’m sure the four better qualified, higher-scoring students whose places they will take are as thrilled as all the politically correct commenters here.”

But other Times readers were enthusiastic.

“I’m happy and I don’t even know them. I like to say thank you to their parents for a job well done!” wrote one. Posted another: “Bravo , absolutely impressive! Good luck wherever you decide to attend!”

The children's names are Kenny, Martina, Ray and Carol Crouch.

another link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/education/19yale.html