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When Marin County investor Todd Blake announced his daughter's admission to the University of Southern California on social media a year ago, she apparently did not know she would have paid 250,000 $ to break into the elite school as a fake volleyball rookie.
So, are she and other students like her to be punished?
That was one of Wednesday's burning questions, a day after the dazzling announcement of a case involving dozens of wealthy parents in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
Officials from many universities targeted by the fraud announced Wednesday that they were reviewing individual cases of students, and at least one school, the University of Southern California, said it would refuse any candidate current program related.
Prosecutors allege that parents have paid an intermediary, William Rick Singer, to fraudulently improve their children's scores on standardized tests and bribe coaches at elite universities to declare them as sports recruits in exchange for generous donations for their programs.
For the adults involved, justice has been done quickly. Singer, who worked with the investigators to engage his associates and clients, pleaded guilty. It was the same for a Stanford sail coach who participated in the program. He and other accused coaches were also fired or suspended.
Many parents accused by the federal government suffer the consequences in their professional lives.
Palo Alto's hedge fund, Hercules Capital, announced Wednesday that Manuel Henriquez, charged with his wife, had voluntarily retired as chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Bill McGlashan, a private investor in the Bay Area, has also been on leave from the TPG Growth Fund.
However, prosecutors ensured that children were not charged, most of them unaware that their parents had claimed to have acted on their behalf.
Henriquez 's eldest daughter, however, would have "jubilee" with her mother and the guy accused of cheating her during a standardized test in October 2015 "on the fact that they were not there. had cheated and got out of it. " She was admitted to Georgetown University. The following spring, as a member of the tennis team, despite unimpressive athletic references, court documents indicate.
Universities are now faced with difficult choices about how to treat admitted students through the fraud scheme. Singer has described as "side door" facing the national outrage of parents and students, worried about their chances of being legitimately accepted via the "gateway" of a major school .
Matt Hill, head of media relations at Georgetown University, said Wednesday that "we are reviewing the details of the indictment and will take the measures that impose."
Don Heider, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics of the University of Santa Clara, who was not involved in the scandal, said Wednesday that the universities would likely expel an informed student. . But it would be a hard call for those who were not aware of it.
"If you have credible evidence of his knowledge, you have to seriously think 'you have finished the year and that's it, you must be transferred to another university,'" said Heider. "If you do not have credible evidence, I'm not sure it's ethically punishing the student."
It was unclear whether students with fictitious requests detailed in the court documents ended up in Bay Area schools. While Stanford's sailing coach, John Vandemoer, pleaded guilty to promising coveted admissions to two students in return for more than $ 200,000 in sailing program payments, students ended up attending other schools. . Stanford pledged to reallocate the money received in the framework to a "non-Stanford affiliated entity," but would not respond to Wednesday's questions regarding his plans.
At Wake Forest University, a highly selective private university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, President Nathan O. Hatch addressed the issue in a note on Wednesday to students, faculty, and staff.
Hatch acknowledged that the daughter of one of Singer's clients who allegedly paid a bribe to Wake Forest volleyball coach "has been admitted and is currently registered", but added "we don" have no reason to believe that the student was aware of the so-called financial transaction ".
Hatch said that volleyball coach Bill Ferguson had since been put on administrative leave and that an acting replacement had been appointed.
"Wake Forest is reviewing its admission and athletic practices to fully align with its values," he wrote.
According to court documents, Singer reportedly asked football coach Jorge Salcedo to recruit one of his clients in exchange for a $ 100,000 contribution to Salcedo's sports marketing company.
UCLA said Wednesday in a statement that Salcedo had been put on leave and that the university "did not know of any student-athlete currently suspected". But he also noted that "all students registering on a UC campus must sign a statement" certifying the validity and accuracy of all information related to their application. "
"If UCLA discovers that a prospective, admitted or enrolled student has misrepresented an aspect of his or her candidacy or that information about the candidate has been concealed, she may take a number of disciplinary actions up to the point of time. on the cancellation of the admission, "spokesman Ricardo Vazquez said Wednesday.
The court papers allege that two USC football coaches have appointed four Singer clients as team recruits in exchange for a $ 350,000 payment to their private football club, and a water polo coach has named another rookie client in exchange for tuition for the coach's children. In addition, a USC administrator would have received $ 20,000 per month to "facilitate the admission of
dozens of students at USC as recruited athletes, though many of them had
made athletic references and some did not even practice the sport. "
USC is the place where actress Lori Loughlin and her husband designer Mossimo Giannulli have been accused of paying $ 500,000 in bribes for their two daughters to be nominated recruits for the first time. 39 team team to facilitate their admission, although they do not participate in the sport.
It is unclear whether the sisters Giannulli, Isabella and Olivia Jade, were aware of the alleged scam, although the youngest daughter was photographed in a "photo action" intended to enhance her credibility as helmsman crew.
"We will make informed and appropriate decisions once these reviews are completed," USC said in a statement on Wednesday.
Heider had difficulty believing that students knew nothing about their parents' efforts on their behalf.
"I find it confusing that students do not know more," Heider said. "Maybe it's possible, but it seems like a very strange process where the student is not involved. What does it say about the students themselves and what responsibility do they take for their education? "
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