In the never ending war to keep smart boys from becoming college graduates, Harvard made a "mistake" and graduated a genius.
Here's the story. Vladimir Voevodsky was born and grew up in Moscow, Russia. He was kicked out of high school three times, once for disagreeing with his teacher. He was also kicked out of Moscow University, having stopped attending classes he considered a waste of time.
He continued to study mathematics and published several papers so impressive he was invited to enroll at Harvard as a graduate student, even though he did not apply and of course had no undergraduate degree.
Once at Harvard, he again failed to attend lectures. But his body of research was so astonishing no one cared. He graduated and became "one of the most brilliant and revolutionary mathematicians of his generation," according to his obituary in the New York Times. He died last month at age 51.
There are of course 14 million other boys here in the U.S. who may not be geniuses, but smart enough to graduate from college, provided colleges and universities made more "mistakes" and graded based on learning and knowledge rather than on male gender behavior traits.