College Admissions Scandal: Felicity Huffman Arrested!

[SPHASH]

53 minutes ago, FluffySnowball said:

I already stopped yesterday (that’s when I first read about the scandal unfolding). What I mean is just that as a fan of Full House, she was one of the only actresses I actually liked*. I never kept up with news and gossip about her, didn’t even follow her on Instagram or so, but I guess she embodied a wholesome and cozy feeling - now, of course, that’s out the window.

 

* That’s not to say that I dislike all other actors. But for me, seeing particular actors just isn’t that important so as long as i enjoy a movie, I’m happy. 

Candace Cameron Burr and her brother make me want to puke!

[VelociRapture]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.yahoo.com/amphtml/entertainment/will-olivia-jade-get-expelled-heres-usc-say-214018959.html

From what I’ve seen, USC intends to decide the students’ and graduates’ fates on a case by case basis. Anyone still in the admission process will be denied admission.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[molecule]

As a long-time higher ed professional who was involved with the admissions process (at several non-elite colleges), I've been fascinated by this story.

It has always bothered me that parents can donate a building and have their kid get a break on admissions. Still, I think it is far better than what is described in the indictment. First, there is no attempt to deceive the school. Everyone knows what's going on. Second, the school gets a building, and that does benefit other students down the road. It's unfair, but it does seem to be a more transparent approach.

I feel kind of bad for the students. If they are already in college and have been academically successful, I hope they are allowed to stay if they want to.

According to the indictment, somebody the students genuinely thought their own efforts had paid off. It isn't easy to know that your parents deceived you. 

Even if the students were 18 and were complicit in this, I'm inclined to give them a break. 18-year-olds have not reached full mental development.  If their parents (from whom they presumably learned the concepts of right and wrong) are telling them some thing is okay, they might not have enough understanding of the world to question that. 

I hope it doesn't become more difficult for students with legitimate accessibility needs to get the accommodations they need for college testing. The manipulation of that part of the process is what makes me angriest.

As for why Felicity Huffman was charged and her husband wasn't, I thought it had to do with who actually sent the money or emails. Discussing it and verbally agreeing to do it aren't good, but it is doing the deed that breaks the law, I think. 

[AmazonGrace]

Aww don't you think the kids are suffering enough. Lori Loughlin's daughter was partying on a yacht with a board of trustees member from USC when mom got arrested, and had to cut that privilege short. http://m.tmz.com/#!2019/03/13/lori-loughlin-daughter-olivia-yacht-usc-board-of-trustees-rick-caruso/

[Maggie Mae]

Word from a friends daughter at USC is that all of the young adults who are involved in this have been expelled. 

[molecule]

I suppose quite a few spring breaks are being ruined right now.

[Ozlsn]

There is always a tweet.

[J.O.Y.nomore]

19 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

Word from a friends daughter at USC is that all of the young adults who are involved in this have been expelled. 

If the students were unaware of what their parents did, I think that is unfair. Of course, what their parents did was unfair, but 2 wrongs don't make a right.

[Melissa1977]

16 minutes ago, J.O.Y.nomore said:

If the students were unaware of what their parents did, I think that is unfair. Of course, what their parents did was unfair, but 2 wrongs don't make a right.

So if parents rob a car and give it to their children, is it unfair to leave the kids without that car?

Fellonies have consequences. And sadly, the offender's children suffer some consequences. It's terrible when a mother goes to jail and her baby or toddler is left alone. 

At least, the children of this post are legally adults and rich. They can try to study in another college. If they didn't know anything, it's going to be extremely stressful, but stress is for all whose parents break the law and if there is no mercy for minors, I don't know why young adults should be different.

[J.O.Y.nomore]

1 hour ago, Melissa1977 said:

So if parents rob a car and give it to their children, is it unfair to leave the kids without that car?

Fellonies have consequences. And sadly, the offender's children suffer some consequences. It's terrible when a mother goes to jail and her baby or toddler is left alone.

Hm, good point.

[AmazonGrace]

3 hours ago, J.O.Y.nomore said:

If the students were unaware of what their parents did, I think that is unfair. Of course, what their parents did was unfair, but 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Someone could presumably be unaware if the extent of it was just that mom and dad gave someone some money but many of these activities would require the kids' active cooperation I think.   They'd know if someone else passed a test that they'd failed. They'd know if they have extra time in tests for a diagnosis they don't really have.  If they got in because of sports achievements they would presumably have to know about it in case someone asks and they blow it by blurting out they've  never even heard of water polo or whatever it was they were supposed to be a champion in.   If they posed for fake sports photos they'd know. If they faked an injury to get out of rowing practice they'd know.  

Anyhow, just because someone else stole it and gave it to you, doesn't mean it's rightfully yours now.

Edited March 14, 2019 by AmazonGrace

[J.O.Y.nomore]

16 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

Anyhow, just because someone else stole it and gave it to you, doesn't mean it's rightfully yours now.

 

3 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

So if parents rob a car and give it to their children, is it unfair to leave the kids without that car?

Fellonies have consequences. And sadly, the offender's children suffer some consequences. It's terrible when a mother goes to jail and her baby or toddler is left alone.

I concede. I hope they get a chance to apply to other universities and get in (if their real test scores and grades warrant it) because I bet (usually) schools don't accept expelled students

[nelliebelle1197]

9 hours ago, waltraute said:

On 3/12/2019 at 2:43 PM, luv2laugh said:

Will Lori Loughlin's daughter Olivia be expelled from USC? It's not fair that her daughter got into that school based on fraud. Lori Loughlin is married to the founder of Mossimo clothing and the family is extremely wealthy.

This scam is ridiculous but it's only the tip of the iceberg. As someone mentioned, look at Jared Kushner. He was not Harvard material and he only got in through his daddy's donations.

• Jared Kushner and his brother only were able to start their own PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS because DADDY FUNDED THEM. The Kushner children are big babies that ride off of daddy's success and their entire lifestyle is because of Daddy, much like Trump. I have no respect for popular model Karlie Kloss who chose to marry into that family.

Republicans complain all of the time about affirmative action instead of looking at the biggest scam in this country: LEGACY BASED ADMISSIONS TO IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS AS WELL AS THE RICH PARENTS WHO DONATE MONEY TO GET THEIR KID INTO ANY COLLEGE THEY DONATE TO.

In order to help make this country a bit more "fair", legacy based admissions as well as admitting the kids of rich donors needs to STOP!
Also, there's a significant issue with the fact that the rich can afford thousands of dollars to spend on PRIVATE TUTORS to train their kids for the standardized exam compared to the parents who cannot afford to do so.

• Additionally, the wealthy are "gaming the system" through the thousands of dollars they spend on hiring private coaches to train their kids in a sport also grant them admission, along with the standardized exam score and a six or seven figure donation to the college.
  • The offices of admissions at colleges admit to the fact that anyone who donates a large sum of money to the school increases their child's admission to the college...

Corrupt. Corrupt. Corrupt. It's disgusting. My husband is hispanic and went to an ivy-league school AND I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MANY PEOPLE ATTEMPT TO SAY "OOOH HE ONLY GOT IN BECAUSE HE WAS HISPANIC..." How racist.
It's horrible! Why complain about POC who get into these schools when 30% of the entire class is only attending a competitive college BECAUSE THEIR WEALTHY PARENTS DONATED MONEY?!?!
 
Can you tell this topic gets me angry?

Read more  

Agreed. This has been going on since the very inception of the university. If your daddy has money or your grandaddy went to Harvard; bam you're in Harvard. Most of us have taken this for granted, especially in the Ivy-League category. Frankly, I'm more surprised at the subterfuge that had to be undertaken. I thought deals were done with a wink and the endowment of a new chair or the building of a new hall. No fake photos necessary. I'm surprised this hit the news as it did. My first thought was, wait, how is this different from the last hundred years of university dealings.

I think these girls were just THAT unqualified.

[VelociRapture]

I’m not inclined to cut any of the kids who were both legal adults and complicit any slack. The only students I could possibly see giving a bit of leeway to are the ones who had parents that paid to have test scores altered after they took the exams - that’s the only real situation I could see where the students genuinely may not have known something was going on. In that case, I’d still say they don’t deserve to remain at their schools though because they didn’t earn it themselves and an actual crime was committed in order to get them into the school. I think the schools offering to allow those students to willingly withdraw and apply elsewhere would be an appropriate compromise in those cases since there wouldn’t necessarily be a blemish left on their school records that way.

I’m also not really buying the whole “but they’re just kids listening to their parents!” excuse. If a student could prove - with actual evidence - that their parents honestly forced them into complicity then maybe I can see some leniency being warranted. But I don’t get the sense that was really the case with a lot of these students. We need to hold these rich white families to the same standard we’d hold a black family to. Expulsion is absolutely appropriate here.

ETA: This article explains why Macy may not have been charged:

https://people.com/crime/why-william-h-macy-wasnt-charged-in-college-cheating-scandal/

It appears they only had evidence that he was involved in discussions regarding their younger daughter. They decided to let her take the test on her own rather than go the route they did with their eldest, meaning no crime was committed that time. Merely discussing the possibility probably wasn’t enough to charge him if they couldn’t find evidence (like emails) proving he was directly involved with the actual crime.

Edited March 14, 2019 by VelociRapture

[nausicaa]

Also, if that much finagling had to go on to get them into these colleges (and if they're on video saying they don't care about academics, just socializing and football games ?), I really doubt they have the ability to keep up with college level coursework-- especially at an elite school-- without more dodginess. 

I don't know about you guys, but I was a pretty good high school student at a college-focused high school and I majored in English at a state university that is good but definitely not elite. And I had to freaking work in college. Nothing was easy except for a couple 101 courses. My upper level courses in my major required both mental effort and a lot of work. To graduate with honors, you had to write a 25 page thesis with at least twenty sources. Primary sources were strongly encouraged, which required nearly everyone to do hours of research directly at the Library of Congress.

I always boggle at dumb and/or lazy kids who get degrees.

[Howl]

7 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Aww don't you think the kids are suffering enough. Lori Loughlin's daughter was partying on a yacht with a board of trustees member from USC when mom got arrested, and had to cut that privilege short. http://m.tmz.com/#!2019/03/13/lori-loughlin-daughter-olivia-yacht-usc-board-of-trustees-rick-caruso/

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this; just icing on the cake.  It's just so.....peak SoCal. 

Amazing that there are 1 million dollar bonds being posted.  This is some serious shit. 

Edited March 14, 2019 by Howl

[JermajestyDuggar]

17 minutes ago, Howl said:

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this; just icing on the cake.  It's just so.....peak SoCal. 

Amazing that there are 1 million dollar bonds being posted.  This is some serious shit. 

Right? I’m so not worried about any of these kids. Let’s worry about the kids of poor thieves who go to prison and leave their kids homeless. 

[molecule]

I haven't managed to have any sympathy for Lori Loughlin's daughters. They participated in the fraud by posing, and they had to have some idea what was going on.

The indictment transcribes several conversations where parents asked for advice on how to hide the test score scheme from their kids. Those kids really didn't know what was happening, and I do feel bad for them.

[HereticHick]

I have zero zero zero sympathy for any of these vacuous twits.

[47of74]

The lawsuits have begun

Quote

Two college students have filed a lawsuit against the University of Southern California, Yale University and other colleges where prosecutors say parents paid bribes to ensure their children's admission.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco and alleges the students were denied a fair opportunity for admission.

Erica Olsen and Kalea Woods say they were denied a fair opportunity to apply to Yale and USC.

 

[Alisamer]

13 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Candace Cameron Burr and her brother make me want to puke!

*Bure.

Candace is married to (very cute) former NHL player Valeri Bure, and they own a winery, apparently. Valeri's brother (even cuter) Pavel is usually listed as one of the top 100 NHL players ever - and has been rumored to have ties to the Russian mafia and apparently was a bit of a playboy back in the day. Glass houses, and all...

I feel like the kids who can be shown NOT to know about this school fraud thing must be suffering and super embarrassed. Especially if their parents kept their real test scores from them and they had no idea what was going on. That would be a punch to the gut, to think you'd done well and gotten into college on your own merits, only to find out that wasn't true at all. 

Luckily for them, they are very wealthy and advantaged already. Long term, this will pass quickly for them.

Money can't buy happiness, sure. But it could get rid of at least 95% of my problems, and make it way way easier to deal with all the rest of them! I feel a little bit bad for the kids now thinking "wow, how dumb am I that my parents had to pay somebody to fix my test scores?" but just a little. They can afford counseling. They can afford to figure out another option for their lives. They'll probably take a "gap year" trip around the world to let the notoriety die down, then be right back in the swing of things.

[FullOfGravy]

32 minutes ago, molecule said:

The indictment transcribes several conversations where parents asked for advice on how to hide the test score scheme from their kids. Those kids really didn't know what was happening, and I do feel bad for them.

Damn, there must've been some uncomfortable conversations in those families over the last few days.  "Thanks, Mom and Dad, for not wanting me to know that you thought I was too dumb/lazy to get into college on my own merits." 

As a general rule, faking qualifications on a university application is an expellable offence at most schools, if not all.  Some profs might not want to pursue students who cheat on a small assignment, but schools don't play around with this stuff.    Whether or not the students knew what was going on, expulsion is totally appropriate.  Those who didn't know and want to apply again honestly should have the chance.  Students who did know and participate in the fakery should be treated just like anyone else who applies fraudulently - permanent expulsion from the school in question, and good luck getting anywhere else to take you.

[nokidsmom]

Mr. No and I were discussing this earlier.   To be honest, neither of us is really surprised.  Both of us got our BAs at private colleges and it was pretty well known that the wealthier students got in with advantages, that neither of us, as children of working class parents, didn't.  And no, it was not just that they had the money, they had connections, the donations, the influence, whether via legal means or not.  It was particularly true at my college who really focused on legacy students who were wealthier.  Frankly I wonder if my alma mater's administration might be a tad nervous, in the wake of this.

On 3/12/2019 at 10:35 PM, Vivi_music said:

I would say that these spoiled kids probably will never know the self-pride you feel when you have pushed yourself and it has paid off. But I fear that they are so blinded by their own privilege, they don't even know what it means to work hard and be rewarded for it. Feeling of entitlement?

Oh yeah, I ran into this.  I frankly had to, you know, work while attending college, during the school year, breaks and summers.  It was a shock to the spoiled and sheltered students that some of us actually had to do that.   That we might actually earn our degree not just academically but financially as much as possible, was just a foreign concept.

Unfortunately, many in the school administration were of the same privileged mind and one actually went on record saying that students should focus on their schooling and not work.  Sorry, but working was the only way some of us could fund the tuition that the same administration would hound us for even when they made mistakes and they made them all the time.  I was constantly having to go and correct my tuition bill every damn semester.  They gave the wealthy, legacy students huge breaks but not the kids of the working class.  It was a known thing.   Makes you wonder what else went on. 

 

Edited March 14, 2019 by nokidsmom

[luv2laugh]

3 hours ago, nausicaa said:

Also, if that much finagling had to go on to get them into these colleges (and if they're on video saying they don't care about academics, just socializing and football games ?), I really doubt they have the ability to keep up with college level coursework-- especially at an elite school-- without more dodginess. 

I don't know about you guys, but I was a pretty good high school student at a college-focused high school and I majored in English at a state university that is good but definitely not elite. And I had to freaking work in college. Nothing was easy except for a couple 101 courses. My upper level courses in my major required both mental effort and a lot of work. To graduate with honors, you had to write a 25 page thesis with at least twenty sources. Primary sources were strongly encouraged, which required nearly everyone to do hours of research directly at the Library of Congress.

I always boggle at dumb and/or lazy kids who get degrees.

Grade inflation. Harvard is known for giving many kids As.

$500,000 and $1 million bonds being posted... the judge is not playing.

Edited March 14, 2019 by luv2laugh