(A News and Sentinel Op-Ed - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Meritocracy is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Often described as fairness, it is instead another vehicle for those with more to stay ahead. We measure football games by the final score — but does it seem fair that in 2023-2024 the name, image and likeness (NIL) budget for West Virginia University was $5 million while for Texas it was $22 million — more than four times as much?

It’s no surprise that an antitrust lawsuit (House v. NCAA) is poised to cap the amount each school can pay athletes. It turns out that the only way to make the game fair on the field is to first make things fair in setting up the game.

I grew up in Parkersburg, graduating from Parkersburg South High School (Go Patriots!). I live in California now, but people still know I’m from West Virginia: I root for the Mountaineers, my kids wear WVU gear, and people look for me when it’s time to karaoke “Country Roads.” I am proud of where I’m from.

I was fortunate to attend Stanford University, in part because I helped the school’s geographic diversity. There weren’t many West Virginians applying to or attending Stanford, so my presence at the school was important — I brought a viewpoint from the Mid-Ohio Valley that would otherwise not be heard, or worse, assumed to be unimportant.

I see my job now as being a spokesperson for the people of West Virginia — to help others realize what I know about the people of WV. They are hardworking. They are family-oriented. They are always willing to help.

I now try to repay West Virginia in a small way by helping with undergraduate admissions interviews for Stanford. I talk to students all across West Virginia, and I also interview students in San Mateo County in the heart of Silicon Valley, where I now live.

Much like football, I’ve found the setup of the game to be unfair. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income in Wood County is about $54,000 a year versus $149,000 a year in San Mateo County. About four times as many people receive SNAP benefits in Wood County compared to San Mateo County. These differences are even more stark in other counties throughout West Virginia.

In education, Wood County has nearly 50% more people without a high school diploma and less than one-third the number of people with a bachelor’s degree compared to the county I live in now. Beyond that, the number of opportunities for internships, research and summer programs is far greater in San Mateo County, a region that houses headquarters for Facebook, Apple, Google and more.

This means that a high school student from San Mateo County likely has a stronger application on paper than one from Wood County. The game is rigged to benefit affluent communities throughout the country.

Ideally, we would mirror the NCAA’s approach to college football: equalizing salaries, funding for schools, access to internships, and removing prejudice and other barriers — and let everyone compete on merit. I applaud this goal, but it is not an easy one to achieve.

Another way is to think more about potential for future success than current application-related metrics. How far a race has a kid from McDowell County — where only 0.3% of people finished college — already run just to graduate high school, compared to an affluent child in San Mateo? Might that journey — in the face of clear obstacles — be more meaningful than an SAT score achieved with the help of a high-end tutor?

I certainly consider the journey of the students I interview. Understanding West Virginia helps me see beyond paper metrics and recognize potential — which is why representation and looking past numbers matter. This is at the heart of the much-maligned DEI approach.

West Virginians are not that different from the Mexican community in Los Angeles, the African-Americans in Birmingham, Ala., or immigrants in Redwood City, where I live. These groups are full of community-minded, family-centered, caring people who face significant barriers in attaining success in this country.

At a time when we are pitted against one another and asked to limit opportunities for others, it’s worth a moment to really try to walk in someone else’s shoes. What you might find is that we are more similar than different — and limiting the opportunities of others only limits your own.

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Anuj Gaggar is a Parkersburg native and Stanford alum who now works in the biotech industry in California and serves on the evaluation committee for the R.N. Gaggar Family Scholarship for first-generation college-goers from Parkersburg South High School. Even as a San Francisco sports enthusiast, he still has the Nehlen Feelin’!