In his senior year, Gunnar begins receiving letters from the armed forces academies, Harvard University, and Boston University. He visits a wealthy, African-American Harvard graduate in his large home, which overlooks Hillside, realizing that years earlier he and his Hooligan friends had stolen a security sign out of the front lawn and destroyed the man's RV. Gunnar is disgusted by the man's superior attitude towards the residents of Hillside and decides he will never attend Harvard. When a recruiter from BU arrives at his house, Gunnar decides to attend BU instead.