As outrageous as this is, it should come as no surprise given college admissions' ongoing culture of corruption, an inevitable consequence of catering to rich donors and promoting brands instead of dedicating themselves to their supposed educational mission.
This is capitalism at its quintessential ugliest.
Vox's Libby Nelson wrote in her piece "The real college admissions scandal is what's legal:"
"If the only goal of the college admissions process in America were to create a perfect educational environment for studentsnot to appease wealthy donors or boost the school's brand through athletics the fraud wouldn't have worked at all."
The celebrities and otherwise wealthy perpetrators of this scandal were only doing what the system allowed them to do, and others had done before them.
Nelson adds:
"The underlying logic of the scheme was this: Wealthy parents wanted to get their kids into elite colleges, but their kids had so-so grades and test scores that wouldn't qualify them for admission through the usual process. Happily for them, college admissions isn't a level playing field."
This is precisely what ProPublica editor Daniel Golden investigates in his 2006 book The Price of Admission in which is featured none other than Ivanka Trump's husband Jared Kushner, who attended Harvard thanks to his father, Charles Kushner's, $2.5 million donation.
We could lock up or fine all the Lori Loughlins, Felicity Huffmans, Jared Kushners we want, but if the system remains the same, so will the crimes.
Since the story broke, we have heard comparisons to it and Affirmative Action.
That could not be any more a false equivalency.
The ACLU tweeted:
"Imagine believing it's affirmative action that's the problem with college admissions."
While it is true the college cheating scandal and Affirmative Action secure seats in university classrooms to some students, excluding others, Affirmative Action provides educational opportunities for minorities who have not benefited from the level of economic, social, and--yes, white--privilege opulent students traditionally have.
While it may be a valid claim that Affirmative Action favors certain students over others, we must consider the institutional economic and racial disparities that have systematically disenfranchised minorities for hundreds of years.
Educational consultant Mark Stucker, host of the weekly podcast "College-Bound Kid," focusing on educational access and equity, said:
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