Celebrity millionaires invite legal action for allegedly sending fabricated college materials; students respond
Did you get rejected from college because of your academics? Or was it because you couldn’t afford the bribe?
On Mar. 12, the Justice Department accused 50 people in six states of participating in a college admission scandal. The charges exposed the extensive lengths through which wealthy parents have been using their money to ensure their child a spot in a prestigious university.
In other breaking news, the sky is blue! I pass along my deepest condolences if you woke up on Tuesday to learn that rich people utilize their wealth to get what they want. What a blissful world you must’ve been living in up until that point.
There’s been long-standing controversy surrounding the advantages that the wealthy have when it comes to abusing their power to strip the college admission system of its integrity. The debate on whether the SAT and ACT should be eradicated continues because not all students have the same access to expensive private tutoring that exist for the sole purpose to boost your score a couple points. It also remains completely legal to donate a large monetary sum or a building to assure your child a place at a university.
The laziness of these children, not all of them aware of their parents’ schemes, as well as the accused’s faulty parenting, has been chastised. The fact that these spotlighted parents allegedly elected organized conspiracy over legal and supposedly cheaper alternatives lead social media to condemn the parents for not pushing their children to work harder. “It’s terrible that people who try so hard for their dream school can’t get in because people who don’t deserve it took their opportunity,” junior Amy Kraft said.
USC student Olivia Jade Giannulli, daughter of actress Lori Loughlin, has been at the center of the scandal due to her mom’s celebrity status as well as her own prominence on YouTube. A video she posted on Aug. 14, 2018 shows her saying “I do want the experience of like game days, partying. I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”
Her parents “agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC,” The New York Times said.
People took to the comments section, infuriated that money and lies bought admission for someone who doesn’t even care about school. “My personal opinion is why do you have to cheat if you’re already a model and the daughter of Aunt Becky? In other words, why you got to cheat if you already got everyone beat,” senior Caity Greenspun said.
Why do you have to cheat if you’re already a model and the daughter of Aunt Becky?”
– Caity Greenspun, 12
The advantages in the admission process that come with wealth are unjust, but not news. The New York Times writer Rainesford Stauffer said, “The bribery scandal is no more abhorrent than the completely legal industry that helps many wealthy kids get into the schools of their dreams.”
Students agree. Senior Andrea Chen said, “Money takes the honesty out of college admissions.”
