You can’t pick up a newspaper, turn on a news channel or be online without getting the latest on the college admission bribery scandal.
In fact, a federal college admissions probe has led to the criminal indictment of more than 50 people nationwide and sparked a class action lawsuit. This latest round involves lying, cheating and stealing by celebrities and officials to get their kids into prestigious schools when they did not have the grades, SAT scores or experience to qualify for admission. “Tyler Durden,” writing for ZeroHedge asks, “Is there anything left in this country that has not been deeply tainted by corruption?”
He points out the present degeneration of morals and values and states, “it is not fashionable to talk about “morality” and “values” these days, but the truth is that history has shown that any nation that is deeply corrupt is not likely to survive for long.”
Our founders understood this, and former president John Adams once stated that “our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other… Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net.”
The situation has caused an uproar on college campuses, board rooms and celebrity hangouts. As a result, major celebrities have been arrested, fired from their TV shows and sponsorships. And a parent has filed a $500 billion civil lawsuit in California against the defendants who used bribes to get their children into good colleges.
Jennifer Toy, a former teacher from Oakland, claims that the defendants in this case defrauded and caused emotional distress to all whose “rights to a fair chance at entrance to college” were taken away by the alleged scam.
Forty-five defendants, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, have been named in the lawsuit, which was filed in San Francisco.
In the lawsuit she wrote, “I’m not a wealthy person, but even if I were wealthy, I would not have engaged in the heinous and despicable actions of defendants. I’m outraged and hurt because I feel that my son, my only child, was denied access to a college not because he failed to work and study hard enough, but because wealthy individuals felt that it was OK to lie, cheat, steal and bribe their children’s way into a good college.”
In addition, two Stanford University students have named eight universities and William Singer, the operator of a college preparatory business and the chief target of the federal investigation, in a sprawling class action lawsuit filed in California that could eventually involve hundreds of students.
To date, in the operation federal prosecutors are calling “Operation Varsity Blues,” prosecutors have accused 50 people, parents, coaches, celebrities, and college administrators, of participating in the scheme that was allegedly masterminded by William “Rick” Singer through his charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation.
Mr. Singers’ charity has so far taken in approximately $25 million by charging parents to secure good colleges for their children.
The College admissions scandal has prompted a whistleblower hotline. Government Crime Stoppers which has been operating in Texas since the end of 2017, to offer a reward of up to $10,000 for unique information that “substantively” contributes to the prosecution of anyone who has illegally sidestepped or undermined the admission process at an institution of higher education in Texas.
“We have been mostly focused on Texas, but we will take tips on this admissions scandal from anywhere,” Patricia Martinez, the new executive director of Government Crime Stoppers, said Monday. “This is a far-reaching investigation and there is going to be a need for more people to come forward.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement calling on officials at every university in Texas to review their admissions policies and admissions practices .“The integrity of the admissions processes at Texas’ institutions of higher education depends upon the unbiased assessment of the merits of each applicant,” Gov. Abbott wrote. “I expect that all universities will closely examine these issues and safeguard the integrity of the college admissions process.”
And as The Economic Collapse blog’s Michael Snyder writes,” we should certainly be disgusted by these revelations, but we shouldn’t be surprised. Such corruption happens every single day on every single level of society in America. At this point our nation is so far gone that it is shocking when you run into someone that actually still has some integrity.”
Dr. Dan Ariely, a well known behavioral economist at Duke University and author of The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, whom I’ve quoted often, explains in his work that when people see others, who they think are like them, who cheat and get away with it, then they themselves are more likely to cheat. But, as Ariely points out, if they see others who are similar to them, who don’t cheat, then they are much less likely to cheat.
So everyone’s behavior influences others. What you say and what you do can have a big impact on others.
Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.
