Grant's Uncle Disputes Account of Interview

Contending that the Harvard interviewer acted inappropriately by asking about the death of Gina Grant's mother,Grant's maternal uncle said yesterday that the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School senior never attributed her mother's death to a car crash,and that the question should never have been posed.

Members of the Faculty Standing Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid, Which voted April 3 to revoke Grant's admission after learning that she had killed her mother in 1990, told The Crimson last week that she had said her mother died in an auto accident when asked in a formal alumni interview how she became an orphan.

But Dickson disputed that account. "She did not say he mother died in an automobile accident," Dickson said yesterday in an interview from his Columbia, S.C. home.

He added that Grant did not remeber whether she told the interviewer that her mother had died in an acident or whether she had said the topic was too painful to discuss--as she stated in a personal profile which appeared in the Sunday Boston Globe Magazine on April 2.

"Gina doesn't really know what happened," Dickson said. He said Grant told him she could not recall all the deails of her November interview.

Dickson added, however, that Grant may have misrepresented the circumstances of her mother's death. But he said the interviewer should not have asked about private information.

"If you look at the dilemma Gina's in when you ask this question, how should she respond?" Dickson said. "Frankly, Harvard has no right to any of that information whatsoever."

Dickson, the Brother of Grant's mother, Dorothy mayfield, said his niece, may have had a "stock" answer preparee for inquiries about how her mother died.

Members of the faculty admissions committee refused yesterday to say whether the interviewer may have assumed that Grant was referring to a car crash, if, or in fact, she simply referred to an accident.

Dickson said Harvard should give Grant a second chance. "I don't think it should be taken seriously. She is a child, even today," she said. "We all make mistakes. She's a human child, she's not a computer child."

"I think Gina was probably caught off-guard in her question and probably didn't use good judgment in her answer, but I don't know what good judgment is in that situation," the uncle said. "She was nervous and anxious, probably scared." Dickson said if he were in his niece's situation, he would have refused to answer the question. "probably thecorrect answer is, 'My mother died tragically andquite frankly that is none your business."

The Grant case has generated a debate overwhether sealed juvenile records are actuallyeffective in maintaining the anonymity of youngoffenders.

Grant did not indicate on her application howher mother had died, and the admissions officediscovered the entire story only after receivingan anonymous package of news clipping from Grant's1990 trial. The teenager pleaded no contest tovoluntary manslaughter.

Dickson said the interviewer should not haveasked questions concerning Grant's orphan status.

"It was really pretty rude and insensitive onthe interviewer's part to ask that question, inany circumstance," Dickson said. "It's a verypersonal thing, and if she wants to talk about itthat's her business, but the interviewer doesn'thave a right to pry."

In other news Kathryn Yatrakis associates deanof Columbia College reportedly said Grant had beenadmitted to Columbia, according to a New YorkTimes report on Saturday.

Reached at her Brooklyn, N.Y., home yesterday,Yatrakis refused to confirm the accuracy of theTimes report.

Drusilla Blackman, director of admissions atColumbia College and Susan Foight, a member of theadmissions committee, also declined to commentyesterday.

Columbia spokesperson Fred Knubel issued abrief statement, saying that "it is the policy ofColumbia to ensure and individual's privacy not tocomment on an individual's application to theschool and not to disclose whether or not aspecific application has been received."

Columbia acceptance letter, however, was sentto Grant before the faculty committee voted torevoke Grant's application. It is unclear whetherher acceptance to the school still stands.

Dickson said Grant has been accepted to severalschool, but refused to specify which.

"It's not fair to the school or to Gina,because you don't wan a media frenzy at the otherschools," Dickson said

The Grant case has generated a debate overwhether sealed juvenile records are actuallyeffective in maintaining the anonymity of youngoffenders.

Grant did not indicate on her application howher mother had died, and the admissions officediscovered the entire story only after receivingan anonymous package of news clipping from Grant's1990 trial. The teenager pleaded no contest tovoluntary manslaughter.

Dickson said the interviewer should not haveasked questions concerning Grant's orphan status.

"It was really pretty rude and insensitive onthe interviewer's part to ask that question, inany circumstance," Dickson said. "It's a verypersonal thing, and if she wants to talk about itthat's her business, but the interviewer doesn'thave a right to pry."

In other news Kathryn Yatrakis associates deanof Columbia College reportedly said Grant had beenadmitted to Columbia, according to a New YorkTimes report on Saturday.

Reached at her Brooklyn, N.Y., home yesterday,Yatrakis refused to confirm the accuracy of theTimes report.

Drusilla Blackman, director of admissions atColumbia College and Susan Foight, a member of theadmissions committee, also declined to commentyesterday.

Columbia spokesperson Fred Knubel issued abrief statement, saying that "it is the policy ofColumbia to ensure and individual's privacy not tocomment on an individual's application to theschool and not to disclose whether or not aspecific application has been received."

Columbia acceptance letter, however, was sentto Grant before the faculty committee voted torevoke Grant's application. It is unclear whetherher acceptance to the school still stands.

Dickson said Grant has been accepted to severalschool, but refused to specify which.

"It's not fair to the school or to Gina,because you don't wan a media frenzy at the otherschools," Dickson said