WAKE UP, MICKEY!

 

Q; What do Yale, USC, Stanford, and Georgetown have in common?

A: They all accepted bribes to admit students.

Q: What happened to the bribe-givers?

A: They were prosecuted by the federal government. Some went to jail, others are awaiting sentencing or trial.

Q: What happened to the bribe-takers – the colleges who accepted the bribes and corruptly admitted the children of the bribe-givers?

A: As far as I can see, nothing at all . I have read no press reports indicating the colleges have even returned the illicit bribe payments!

So goes the story known in the press as “Varsity Blues." Parents gave sums up to millions of dollars to athletic departments of these prestigious universities in order to get those athletic departments to sponsor the admission of their children who were alleged to be athletic stars. But the stars were hardly stars. Basketball “stars” had not even made high school first string varsity teams; rowers had never rowed a boat, etc. You get the picture. It was all a fraud.

The bribe-givers argued they were simply following the hallowed tradition of making donations to colleges in order to encourage the college to accept their kin. But this was different. They didn't just make a donation to the university. They used a crooked agent who used what he called a "side door" by misrepresenting the athletic skills of their kids. Allegedly, the university athletic departments swallowed these misrepresentations hook, line, and sinker.These coaches then made the appropriate recommendations to the respective admissions committees, which, no questions asked, admitted the children. 

Of course, that's all bullshit. A  university basketball coach doesn't recommend admission of a high school basketball star without some evidence that the kid even played on the high school varsity. The college coach would look at video clips, newspaper articles. He or she would at least communicate with the pertinent high school coach to verify the applicant's skills. But these college money-takers did nothing of the sort. They just took the money (which I assume, went into the college general fund, or was used by the specific college team involved in the fraud). In the end the college got the benefit of the money, the kids contributed nothing to the athletic success of the team, and took spots that might have been taken by more academically or otherwise worthy, but less affluent applicants. But where, oh where is that publicity-conscious US Attorney’s diligence when it comes to prosecuting the bribe- takers? Clearly, they are every bit as reprehensible as the bribe-givers. Why haven't they been indicted? What’s going on here?

Will somebody please buy Merrick Garland an alarm clock? The nation is crumbling and he appears to be asleep, on this front, as on many others.

A bientot.

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