College administration bribery scandal

[skatfan]

I found this article in the NYT magazine section to be very enlightening about how the admissions process is extremely vulnerable to the kind of manipulations that occurred in this cheating scandal. The pressure to balance the budget while optimizing the measures that go into the latest iteration of the US News and World Report ranking algorithm creates terrible incentives.

That was a really interesting article. Sad to hear that many students get admitted because their parents will pay more in tuition and then bring down the rest of the class. The scariest item was the year the college went with the more talented students (some with lower SATs though) the professors loved it but the school’s ranking dropped by several places.

 

[Winnipeg]

Kids of wealthy parents already have an advantage by going to college prep schools throughout K-12, could get tutors and/or coaches for the SATs, practice SAT runs, etc. Gee whiz, if they can't get in on those aspects alone, how can they possibly do the work once admitted??

 

[nylynnr]

Kids of wealthy parents already have an advantage by going to college prep schools throughout K-12, could get tutors and/or coaches for the SATs, practice SAT runs, etc. Gee whiz, if they can't get in on those aspects alone, how can they possibly do the work once admitted??

Because getting into a "prestigious" college is the hard part. Kids like Olivia Jade are not going to be majoring in biochemistry or engineering, and many schools have pass/no pass grading options. There are tutors, fellow students who can write your papers, etc. Private schools do not want students failing out and lowering their graduation rate so many allowances are made.

 

[gkelly]

Because getting into a "prestigious" college is the hard part. Kids like Olivia Jade are not going to be majoring in biochemistry or engineering, and many schools have pass/no pass grading options. There are tutors, fellow students who can write your papers, etc. Private schools do not want students failing out and lowering their graduation rate so many allowances are made.

Taking easier classes, taking classes pass-fail, and employing tutors are all ways that less academically gifted students can "do the work" at a challenging college. Hiring tutors during college, easier for wealthy students, may actually help them understand subject matter better than pre-college test prep tutors.

But getting fellow students to write their papers for them is just another way of not doing the work themselves.

 

[Prancer]

Because getting into a "prestigious" college is the hard part. Kids like Olivia Jade are not going to be majoring in biochemistry or engineering, and many schools have pass/no pass grading options.

I would say more that a few schools have pass/fail grading and even fewer of them are considered prestitigious. Those that are have very high standards. When you get right down to it, all schools have pass/fail grading--it's just that most split it out into degrees of passing. But however you slice it, pass/fail grading is only as easy as the standards make it, just like any assessment system.

 

[Winnipeg]

Wow, I guess one has to wonder how the adjective "prestigious" is defined !

 

[Vagabond]

Wow, I guess one has to wonder how the adjective "prestigious" is defined !

Prestigious

1 : having prestige : honored
2 archaic : of, relating to, or marked by illusion, conjuring, or trickery

Everything archaic is pertinent again.

 

[Winnipeg]

Wow, marked by illusion, conjuring, or trickery. That is really a gem - so a prestigious college is one where they trick you into paying a lot of money for a mediocre education!! Now, I get it!! How apt, eh?

 

[Prancer]

Yes, schools like Brown and Sarah Lawrence are all about selling students a poor education.

 

[Winnipeg]

Money is money...............take it from wherever? Having poorer students get in theoretically should reduce the reputation of a university. Although, I guess people could take an easy degree and not worry about grades and still get a degree from Brown or Sarah Lawrence.

 

[Susan1]

Too funny - I was flipping channels and stopped on a Blue Bloods from 2016. Guess who was playing the mother who wanted Commission Reagan to flunk her son so that he would not become a cop - Lori Loughlin!

 

[Sylvia]

Today's article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...dmissions-scandal-face-2020-trial/3839438002/

BOSTON — A federal judge Wednesday circled 2020 as the time frame for trials of parents, including actress Lori Loughlin, who are fighting charges in the nation's college admissions scandal.
Federal Magistrate Judge Page Kelley announced the court's preference at a status hearing for attorneys of the 19 parents who have pleaded not guilty in the blockbuster "Varsity Blues" admissions case.
But it is still unclear when these defendants will file a motion to dismiss their conspiracy charges, a move that is necessary before a more detailed schedule is set.
Defense attorneys for parents said they are still poring over nearly two million pieces of evidence, representing three million pages, turned over by the federal government during the discovery process.
The judge gave them until Jan. 17, when the next status hearing is scheduled, to review the evidence, which includes emails, phone records and other documents. Their motion to dismiss will be due 45 to 60 days later.

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

Lori Loughlin from what I've read has realized she messed up by pleading not guilty. But I was under the impression that at any time up to the trial she can change her plea? Maybe the Feds are saying, "Sure, here's five years" and she hasn't processed it yet. The evidence is overwhelming. I don't expect this to go to trial. "Anyone would have done this for their child" is not a great defense. A homeless woman in Texas got five years for lying to get her daughter into a better school district. Different state, I know, but I naively think Lori will get her due justice, especially since she has been so arrogant about the whole thing.

 

[Vagabond]

She can change her plea, but it appears that the plea agreement that she was offered was conditioned on accepting it with a certain period which has now passed.

 

[Vagabond]

Parents Paid to Open College Doors. Now They’re Spending to Limit Prison Time

Sentencing has begun for parents who have pleaded guilty to using their wealth to boost their children’s chances: paying to rig entrance-exam scores, securing athletic-recruit status through bribery. Now some of those parents are using their resources to boost their own chances of getting a lenient sentence, by marshaling the best possible experts and the best possible arguments, some of which bear a trace of the extracurricular résumé-polishing of college applicants.

Anticipating that other parents scheduled for sentencing in the weeks ahead might follow Mr. Semprevivo’s lead and hire similar consultants, Judge Talwani warned: “I maybe should say to you, before I get nine more of these: I don’t feel I need an expert report from a criminologist to tell me how to rule here, particularly where it’s the same criminologist that’s going to be probably presenting for everybody in L.A.”

You tell 'em, Judge Talwani!

To quote Governor Danforth in The Crucible, "Hang them high over town! Who weeps for these weeps for corruption."

 

[Susan1]

From the t.v. schedule page -
Saturday, October 12
8 p.m. - THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL (TV Movie) - Lifetime
10 p.m. - BEYOND THE HEADLINES: THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL WITH GRETCHEN CARLSON - Lifetime (One-Hour Special Presentation)

 

[Vagabond]

San Francisco dad sentenced to longest prison sentence in college admissions scandal

Five months.

What gets me is the argument he made about why he should receive a light sentence:

Huneeus’ attorney countered in court records that while the San Francisco father was the only parent to participate in both the cheating of tests and the faking of college athletic credentials, his daughter was, in the end, never accepted into USC.

Huneeus was caught before USC made any decision as to whether to admit his daughter. So there's chutzpah for you.

 

[overedge]

If his daughter was that unqualified that he couldn't even get her in by cheating.....

 

[Vagabond]

If his daughter was that unqualified that he couldn't even get her in by cheating.....

Again, the father was caught in about March of this year, when this theead was started. Admissions decisions are made in April, and her application was still pending.

 

[overedge]

Again, the father was caught in about March of this year, when this theead was started. Admissions decisions are made in April, and her application was still pending.

Yes, I know that. But if he had to cheat both on the admission test scores and her athletic record, it doesn't sound like she was a strong candidate to get in anyway.

 

[MacMadame]

Yes, I know that. But if he had to cheat both on the admission test scores and her athletic record, it doesn't sound like she was a strong candidate to get in anyway.

Or he was just being careful.

 

[MsZem]

Felicity Huffman has been released from prison after serving 11 days of her 14-day sentence. She will now begin serving the remainder of her sentence (supervised release and community service).

Felicity Huffman released from prison after serving 11 days for college admissions scam | CNN

Actress Felicity Huffman was released Friday from a federal prison in Dublin, California, after serving 11 days of a two-week sentence for her role in the college admissions scam, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Huffman reported to federal prison October 15, according to a representative.

edition.cnn.com

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Lori Loughlin's attorneys argue feds are concealing evidence in college admissions scandal

Attorneys for actress Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli say the Justice Department has refused to turn over all evidence in college admissions case.

www.usatoday.com

The couple's legal team asked for "all information" concerning Singer's representations to his clients regarding payments to USC as well as information about "USC's knowledge of Singer's operation." In particular, they singled out Federal Bureau of Investigation reports, known as "302 reports," that detail statements and interview notes taken during the college admissions investigation.

Attorneys, led by Sean Berkowitz, say the documents would prove the central argument of Loughlin, Giannulli and other parents charged in the "Varsity Blues" case who have maintained their innocence — that they made "legitimate donations" to a nonprofit led by Singer, not bribes.

The couple's attorneys argue the Justice Department must prove Loughlin and Giannulli "intended" to defraud USC and that they "knew" their donations to Singer's nonprofit, the Key Worldwide Foundation, would be used to bribe a USC official, former senior associate athletic director Donna Heinel.

"At trial, Giannulli and Loughlin will help establish their innocence by showing that they understood both sets of payments to be legitimate donations and did not understand or intend that either set of payments would be used to directly or indirectly bribe Heinel," their motion reads.

I'm trying to figure out how the fraudulent photographs of the daughter excelling at her sport figure into the "it was just a donation" defense.

 

[BaileyCatts]

Probably a stupid question but I have no idea how trials work ..... is it possible that the lawyers can just keep filing motions and requests for delays for more info, or whatever reason, to the point this trial never happens at all? Is there a set "this trial will happen on this date regardless" date, or can they just keep this going basically forever by keep filing motions for more info or delay because the lawyers say they need more time to prepare?

 

[Vagabond]

Probably a stupid question but I have no idea how trials work ..... is it possible that the lawyers can just keep filing motions and requests for delays for more info, or whatever reason, to the point this trial never happens at all? Is there a set "this trial will happen on this date regardless" date, or can they just keep this going basically forever by keep filing motions for more info or delay because the lawyers say they need more time to prepare?

There has to be a showing of good cause and a waiver of the right to a speedy trial to get a postponement.

 

[Vagabond]

Both the State of California and the University of California are auditing the University's admissions process.

Audit finds troubling errors in UC admissions, in wake of Varsity Blues scandal

In the wake of the Varsity Blues scandal, a University of California performed an audit...

www.sfchronicle.com

At the University of California, one campus admitted an applicant to a coveted slot for top athletes who then never appeared on the team roster after enrolling. Another campus accepted a homespun computer printout as proof of an applicant’s equestrian talents. A third inexplicably let an applicant use his musical track record as proof that he’d won a science award.

Has anyone read or heard about similar audits elsewhere?

 

[becca]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fox8.com/news/lori-loughlin-and-mossimo-giannulli-agree-to-plead-guilty-in-college-admissions-scam/amp/

Lori and her husband will plead guilty.

 

[Vagabond]

Home confinement now must be looking a lot better than incarceration at some point in the future right now. ?

 

[Coco]

I'm kind of disappointed there wasn't a trial because it could have been very interesting.

What Felicity Huffman did was clearly criminal and immoral. Mr. and Mrs. Aunt Becky's actions were far more gray, imo, then add in the overcharge (imo) and the potential prosecutor misconduct and there might have been a hung jury.

But if there was any chance of a long sentence, and there really was, they'd be fools to not take this deal.

 

[Jenny]

But if there was any chance of a long sentence, and there really was, they'd be fools to not take this deal.

From other articles I read, I'm guessing they were proactive in this, and that the timing isn't exactly a surprise. Who wouldn't want to stay at home for a few months rather than go to prison? Especially when your home is probably a mansion, probably with a pool and who knows what other resort-like features, and your spouse is there with you too? Which they were probably already doing to an extent anyway. They're probably popping the champagne now.