Greek families make enormous sacrifices to provide their children with an education, believing that they are furnishing them with the tools to successfully pursue their chosen career without relying on favors and patronage. The government made a promise to reform the educational system – and the public sector more generally – along the principles of meritocracy and evaluation. It has made visible progress to this end, especially at universities. Some blatant exceptions of influential individuals who not only slipped through the cracks but also boast about it, don’t just undermine this progress but are also an insult to citizens who stake everything on the principle of getting ahead with hard work. They also undercut the country’s efforts to lure back all those bright minds that left specifically to escape the mediocrity of a cronyist system.