“The state of our schools is important to our health. Yes, it’s true that [Ivy League schools] are in a privileged position of receiving more applications than we have space, but we cannot be safe or feel good in an environment where children in neighborhoods across this country do not have a chance at even a good basic education.”

“I’ll tell you something about how I came into university life. I grew up at a time when this was a pretty terrible country from my perspective. Everything about it said that I was worth nothing, that I didn’t matter, that I wasn’t intelligent, that I was ugly, that I’d never do anything in this life. I managed to have teachers who told me that I was smart and I could do things.”