Meritocracy

Ruined by affirmative action.

The records reviewed by the AP reveal a pattern of DeJoy’s family winning coveted opportunities after making generous contributions.

In one instance, DeJoy’s son, Andrew, secured a slot on Duke University’s tennis team in 2014 while his parents wrote a series of large checks to the school’s athletic department.

The team was ranked 14th in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. and drew a host of top national and international prospects. But Andrew DeJoy was not one of them when he joined as a walk-on freshman months after the season started.

“It was a dream of mine since I was very little, but I wasn’t expecting to play,” Andrew DeJoy said in an interview published by the school’s athletic department in 2015. “I just emailed the coach and said I was willing to work hard over the summer if there was spot. Luckily ... in the fall, things just worked out.”