<p>"The son of one of two New York City police officers killed Saturday night in Brooklyn is a freshman at Bowdoin College.</p>
<p>Barry Mills, president of the college, informed the family of student Justin Ramos on Sunday morning that the college would provide full financial aid to enable Ramos to complete his Bowdoin education.</p>
<p>In a post on the college’s Facebook page, Mills urged respect for the family’s privacy in the wake of the “unspeakable tragedy". . . .</p>
<p>It does look from the article and Bowdoin’s net price calculator that its normal financial aid policy will cover full tuition and more in the student’s situation going forward (assuming low or no other income other than the deceased’s pay), so the announcement does not really say that it is doing anything it would not have otherwise done.</p>
<p>I think this is nice, but what the Yankees have done is better. He can transfer to any school he wants without concern for cost and this would allow him to be closer to his remaining family if he wished.</p>
<p>I think what Bowdoin has done is terrific. The family lives in a fairly downtrodden part of Brooklyn and the father was a newly minted cop, which isn’t a lucrative position. It sounds like this young man is very promising and Bowdoin would like to alleviate any burden it can for the family, which I’m sure will have other expenses going forward. </p>
<p>Clearly family income will be affected by the death of the father. I agree with ucbalumnus that this would have happened anyway through the finanicial aid process, as long as the college was informed of the change in status. Normally aid would be based on income for 2014, which would be almost full year income because the Dad was killed in December. But a college like Bowdoin, and many others, would adjust aid for expected income for the coming year in a situation like this.</p>
<p>Good move on the part of the Yankees and Bowdoin College. Even if the kid would have gotten this aid from Bowdoin anyway, at least the family has one less issue on its plate.</p>
<p>Yes, what Bowdoin has done is highly commendable. But what would have been better would be to just do it without sending out a press release announcing what they are doing, and then urge that everyone “respect the family’s privacy.” How this young man’s education is funded is not the public’s business. Bowdoin has made itself look self-serving and hypocritical by announcing its good deed to the world and then asking that privacy be respected.</p>
<p>So, the right thing to do, but the wrong way to go about doing it.</p>
<p>Some of you are so cynical, it’s just sad. </p>
<p>Publicity in that massive media outlet: “The Bangor City News.” Gonna really bring 'em in now. Sheesh.</p>
<p>It’s good for people to know that the Yankees and this college are doing something tangible for the kid. It helps people understand the kinds of things that can be done.</p>
<p>It is a great thing Bowdoin is doing. It is entirely possible they were getting questions from alumni and from the prss on what their plans were for this kid and how to support him. It is hard to remain anonymous when you are already in the public eye due to the unfortunate circumstance. Yes, they will garner some good publicity but if they did not make this announcement, they may have gotten a lot of bad publicity for doing nothing. </p>
<p>I’m not chiding them for actually “doing it,” I’m expressing my disappointment in the fact that the college felt it needed to make itself look good in the process by making a public announcement of what they did. Ask yourself this question: who benefits by making this information known to the general public?</p>
<p>To paraphrase a quote that’s been attributed to the late George Steinbrenner: if you’re doing something good for someone and more than two people know about it, you’re doing it for the wrong reason.</p>
<p>Now, I know that people and organizations do “good deeds” all the time and send out press releases to enhance their reputations or improve their standing or whatever. But for Bowdoin to be using a tragic event that befell one of its own students towards this end is, for me, going too far.</p>
<p>Minor point: it’s the Bangor Daily News. And this PR move (the announcement, not the deed itself) is getting far wider play than the second largest newspaper in the state. It’s not about getting more applicants, it’s about making yourself look good to those whose opinion can make a difference.</p>