Stanford expels a student who is linked to the ploy

Stanford University expelled a student whose admission was followed by a major donation to the school's sailing program through an organization related to the college admissions scandal, in which 50 people were indicted by the US Department of Justice, announced Tuesday the university.

The anonymous student was kicked out as part of Stanford's internal examination after the former head coach of the sailing school was accused of making contributions. financial in exchange for the recommendation of admission of students, said the university on its website.

Stanford ended the employment of John Vandemoer, sailing coach, after the Department of Justice had stated that he had accepted several donations in exchange for the registration request. potential students.

Vandemoer was one of 50 people named in the university admissions program as part of an FBI investigation, called Operation Varsity Blues. The survey found that a network of wealthy parents would have paid millions of dollars to admissions guru, William Rick Singer, to increase their children's chances of entering selective colleges and universities .

Vandemoer pled guilty to conspiracy for racketeering last month. He should be sentenced on June 12th.

The university said the sailing program had received three donations totaling $ 770,000 from The Key Worldwide, a non-profit organization created by Singer in 2012 and believed to be a charity.

Two of the donations came from the families of two future Stanford students, who were never admitted to school, and the third from a Stanford student with no connection to the sailing program.

The third student, who has never been identified, was expelled last week. The newspaper run by school students, the Stanford Daily, reported that his admission had been made as a result of a donation of $ 500,000 from the Singer organization.

The student also allegedly made navigation references in her application, the university newspaper reported.

"We determined that certain elements of the student's application were false and that, in accordance with our rules, we canceled our admission," Stanford said on his website. "All credits earned have also been released."

Stanford is one of eight universities where the Ministry of Education is being investigated for violating laws and regulations related to federal funding programs under the admission program.

Other universities that have received letters from the department include the University of Wake Forest, Georgetown University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of San Diego, and the University of 39, University of Southern California and the University of California at Los Angeles.

Students who may have been admitted as part of the USC program have had their acceptances put on hold and will not be able to enroll in classes or obtain their transcripts. .

At least one student involved in the scandal has had its acceptance overturned at Yale following the scandal, the Yale Daily News reported.

Yale has also launched its own internal review to determine "if other people have participated in activities that have corrupted the process of recruiting and admitting athletes".