Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/13/ringleader-of-college-admissio.html
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“Meritocracy,” my ass, America.
The game is rigged in favor of the rich and powerful… and it’s been that way, ever since the very start.
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I’d like to think that there are 750 very tightly clenched buttholes around the country desperately hoping that the world won’t be informed that mommy and daddy had to buy their way into college, but 90% of them are probably well beyond that kind of shame and will sleep just fine on their pile of money and connections.
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I’m wondering if any of these students will be expelled from school. Seems that some didn’t know that Mommy and Daddy chose this method to buy their ways into whichever elite school they’re currently “studying” at, but even then, they’re there under highly nefarious and illegal circumstances.
Kinda like how we have to return stolen good we’ve purchased, even if we didn’t know they were stolen, so all these rich young swells should be kicked off campus. It’ll be interesting to see if this expulsion question also becomes a big story, cuz it sure as hell should.
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I wondered about this yesterday. First of all, I’m not at all sure why these kids should avoid prosecution if they were 18 and knew anything at all about the fraud or bribes. And for the kids who had other people take tests for them, received fake diagnoses, or participated in staged photos to round out fake application packets, I’m not sure I’d find ignorance to be all that plausible.
I’m curious what these schools would do with a freshman student from a middle class background who lied on her application about past criminal conviction and had someone else write a personal essay for her? Would they bend over backwards to justify letting them stay in school, I wonder?
Exactly as you point out, the beneficiaries of a criminal conspiracy aren’t just automatically entitled to keep the gains of that conspiracy, even if they’d really prefer to.
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my wife and I have been discussing this actively for the past couple days now. We are really amazed at the shock/pearl clutching being done over this.
This is NOT shocking in the least. I for one am astounded by it only being this one guy who was caught at this stage. I’m sure he’s one of many who do this fuckery for the elitist assholes loin spawn.
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Can we get something as catchy as “Welfare Queen” going for these parents?
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I like Trophy Kids for the students, but I haven’t seen a great one yet for the parents.
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Maybe not but, I’d expect an asterisk on their eventual diploma to note: “I not really this smart.”
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The transcript of the wiretapped conversation between CW1 and a complicit mother in crime asking to be coached on how to talk her blissfully unaware and positively reinforced daughter out of reattempting the ACT in an effort to outscore the previous, paid for and fraudulent results made my day.
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The traditional, not shocking way to do this is to make a big donation to the school. These folks aren’t rich enough for that. And found a cheaper way in.
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That does sound tasty. Got a link?
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There was a case about a decade ago.
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I dearly hope this scandal sheds light and attention on the much bigger scandal of rich people using all sorts of other unethical yet perfectly legal ways to get their undeserving dearies into elite colleges.
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Given the schools in question, this is not so much “rich vs. poor” as it is “very rich vs. somewhat less rich,” with the ultra-rich in an entirely different category of their own. The poor have no place in their world.
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You misunderstand.
I’m not “shocked,” I’m pissed.
Personally, I’ve had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get my kid into better ranked schools, instead of the subpar institutions that are nearest to us, and she’s not even in high school yet.
So when someone who essentially has the world on the platter still isn’t satisfied with how much the deck is already stacked in their favor, and decides to game the unfair system even more, I start sharpening my knives and seriously looking at ideas for structural improvements to the original design of the guillotine.
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Not true, the poor have a place in their world: serving food, cleaning etc. and occasionally tutoring the rich morons so they can pass with a ‘D’
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Exactly. The traditional (and completely legal) way is to give a donation to a private school. This is how Jared Kushner ended up going to Harvard – his father gave $2.5 million. The people in the scandal didn’t donate to the school, they bribed individuals at the school (with surprisingly low amounts in the thousands and tens of thousands), faked entrance exams, and the like. That isn’t legal.
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Yep - but these folks don’t even want to stop with just the rigging and the privilege. They expect a guarantee and a personal butler - and bottle service. What’s next? Bring back Droit du seigneur?
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Is that supposed to be some sort of ‘cold comfort?’
My kid gets straight A’s; she should be able to get a scholarship to any reputable school in the country, because of her hard work and her merit, regardless that I’m part of the ‘working poor.’
But as we all should know by now, meritocracy is a bullshit pipe dream.
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