by Hannah Twery, contributor
You’ve probably heard the rumor that Justin Bieber may be enrolling in SCAD after his highly publicized move to Atlanta. The news was plastered all over the SCAD Atlanta Facebook page and the name “Bieber” was woven into many people’s conversations. I can’t speak on whether the rumor is a complete lie or not because I have no idea, but the thought of possibly seeing someone as famous as the Biebs hanging around the Hub got me thinking. Would that be distracting? Would his classmates not get anything done because they were staring at him? Would he be peeing in any mop buckets?
Plenty of celebrities have attended college because, let’s face it, they’re people too and they are probably interested in gaining some sort of higher education. Most people think about Natalie Portman attending Harvard, Emma Watson going to Brown University or James Franco studying at NYU when they think of celebrities in college. But did their attendance cause a hootenanny and serve as a distraction?
I’m assuming that many of the celebrities that attend college after becoming famous try to make themselves as invisible as possible to other students. I know this because extensive Googling “shenanigans that celebrities have caused at colleges” proves to be a futile endeavor.You’re more likely to have Bill Murray crash your house party and do a whole karaoke set than spot Miranda Cosgrove doing a keg stand and puking in a public restroom at USC. Hell, if I were famous, I’d wear prosthetic facial features so people wouldn’t pester me to sign their butts and be distracted in class or whatever people do when they see a famous person.
However, most of the people I have listed — other than Bill Murray — seem to be well-mannered people who are not very likely to pull stunts like Justin Bieber does. Of course, I don’t know them personally so this could be completely untrue, but judging by how they act in public they are nowhere near the level the Biebs is on. However, the Biebs is definitely on a level of his own. Thinking about this presents more questions. Would Bieber slaughter the school’s reputation because of something he did? Would he throw a fit in Design I after receiving a horrible critique? Would he be able to function in a school environment with bodyguards?
I have a very negative opinion when it comes to Bieber in general and his rumored attendance at SCAD, but I do think that it’s totally OK for celebrities to attend college. They deserve the chance to live a semi-normal life. Ash Ramsey, B.F.A writing major, said, “I think anyone who wants to go to college should be able to go, but I think certain celebrities would cause a lot of problems for the students around them. All the publicity would be distracting and it might be a risk for the school. The Justin Bieber rumor was discussed in two of my classes in the same day. So, if that caused a small commotion and it wasn’t even true, I can’t imagine what would happen if he did go to SCAD.” I agree with her. Anyone who wants to go to college should be able to. However, when dealing with someone who has such a huge name and could be a major liability issue, should the college let celebrities attend and risk ruining the college’s reputation? Or should the college deny them? If Bieber really is contemplating attending SCAD Atlanta, maybe he should just take online courses. No mop buckets there!