The elite college admissions scandal has rocked the country and dominated the 24 hour news cycle. Wealthy parents are accused of paying hefty sums to consultants and “fixers” to help students cheat on college entrance exams, and of bribing coaches and administrators to facilitate kids’ admission by designating them as recruited athletes. Ed Stannard of the New Haven Register referenced Shock Exchange in his coverage of the scandal. According to the Ed Stannard, Operation Varsity Blues could celebrate a racially and economically stratified society:
According to those who closely watch the American higher-education complex, the scandal that broke Tuesday was really the tried-and-true system of greasing applicants’ entry into top universities taken to a logical, if illegal, extreme.
They say the college admissions system itself, especially at highly selective schools such as Yale, Stanford and the University of Southern California, reinforces and celebrates a racially and economically stratified society and major changes are needed to create a student body that is more egalitarian and diverse.
Schools like USC, UCLA, Yale, Texas, Georgetown, Wake Forest and Stanford are embroiled in the scandal. Celebrities like Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy and Lori Loughlin have also been accused of wrongdoing. Some students have filed lawsuits against these schools for depriving them an honest opportunity to attend an elite school. The U.S. Attorney’s office is going after elite colleges, their fixers, coaches and parents. Ralph Baker’s Shock Exchange: How Inner-City Kids From Brooklyn Predicted the Great Recession and the Pain Ahead predicted elite colleges would become a cesspool of bribes.
