Leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, Kemi Badenoch, is facing renewed scrutiny over her academic history after a former Stanford University admissions officer challenged her claim of once receiving an offer to study pre-med in the United States.
Kemi Badenoch has often cited the supposed offer as evidence of her parents’ struggles to secure her a good education despite her strong academic record.
She further claimed that she had gained admission into medical school in Nigeria as well as Stanford’s pre-med programme, but chose to study in Britain because it was more affordable.
The narrative was later repeated in a 2023 Times feature, which stated that her SAT scores earned her a partial scholarship to Stanford.
However, Stanford University does not offer a pre-med major, according to its website, which notes that students preparing for health professions may major in any discipline.
Jon Reider, who handled international admissions and bursaries at Stanford at the time, strongly disputed Badenoch’s account.
“Although 30 years have passed, I would definitely remember if we had admitted a Nigerian student with any financial aid. The answer is that we did not do so,” he told The Guardian UK.
Reider explained that Stanford would not have admitted a 16-year-old solely on the basis of test scores, nor offered a partial scholarship. “If an applicant needed, say, $30,000 a year to attend, we would offer them the full amount. There was no point in offering them less because they would not have been able to attend,” he said.
He added that none of his decisions as admissions officer was ever overruled by a dean, making Badenoch’s claim implausible.
