As human beings, we unconditionally have the right to an education. This includes people who have been convicted of crimes.

Guilford questions potential students about their criminal background. However, the school also admits students and hires employees who have records. This is exactly how a college should handle this situation.

“I think it is essential to give everybody a chance to acquire an education,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean of Students Adrienne Israel. “(However), there are certainly some crimes that would make me pause. Maybe online courses would be more appropriate for them.”

There have been several questionable cases where students have, and have not, been admitted to schools. In 1995, Gina Grant, a woman who brutally murdered her mother as a minor, showed up for her first day of school at Tufts University.

The Common Application, which is accepted at Guilford and hundreds of other colleges and universities across the nation, asks the question, “Have you ever been adjudicated guilty or been convicted of a misdemeanor, felony or other crime?”

Many have expressed their anger towards college application questions that ask about criminal history. These questions allow judgment to be passed on applicants.

Organizations such as the Incarceration to Education Coalition of New York University put forth significant effort to eliminate the questions.

There are several different ways that educational institutions select their students, faculty and staff.

It is not as simple as drawing a line where, on one side, the application is put in the yes pile and the other in the no. Questions of criminal background need to be asked. Murderers and sex offenders cannot be a part of an environment where thousands of students live and operate.

Each situation and application needs to be examined individually.

“Drawing a line oversimplifies the challenge and the work necessary to address it fairly and consistently, because every situation and person is different and should be evaluated as such,” said Rick Williams, director of human resources and Title IX coordinator.

This is how human resources handles the situation when hiring staff on campus.

Guilford has several students with criminal backgrounds, most of whom are part of the CCE program. The school even runs a program which travels to medium security prisons and teaches the inmates, who receive college credit.

Every day, people are restricted in what they can do because of crimes that may have occurred a long time ago or may have occurred due to negligence or an accident. It is unjust to let a crime dictate one’s future.