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Laura Ingraham: College admission scandal is what real abuse of privilege looks like

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Liberal Democrats, too lazy and stupid to compete 
scholastically.  This is the result of the present day inferior 
California school system, once the envy of the entire free 
world, after 40 years of Democrat control and parasitic 
socialist union infestation.

TAGS: Cheat Lie Bribe Obama Ignorant Liberal Dumb Crime College 
High School Sports USC Coach ACT Democrat LA Times, Washington 
Post, NY Times Elite Hollywood TV Media Twitter youTube Scumbags 
Kiss Your Job Goodbye

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We’ve heard a lot about "white privilege" lately from the social 
justice crowd -- this idea that "whiteness" itself can be an 
asset, a proxy for class or other social privilege. But on 
Tuesday, we saw what the real abuse of privilege looks like -- 
when elites of different ethnic backgrounds and races use their 
money to buy status – educational status, that is — for their 
children.

What do Manuel Henriquez, CEO of Hercules Capital, Douglas 
Hodge, former chief operating officer of Pimco, actresses 
Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and Gordon Caplan, co-
chairman of powerhouse international law firm Willkie Farr, all 
have in common? They were among 33 parents and nine athletic 
coaches across the country charged in a $25 million bribery 
scheme to get their kids into top colleges. Dubbed "Operation 
Varsity Blues," it exposed a web of fraud, payouts and bribes 
going back to 2011 up until just last month.

Celebs and titans of the industry shelled out huge money to 
university staff at prestigious universities, who would then 
designate their kids as athletes. Athletes’ applications get 
considered under lowered standards at many schools. The man who 
is at the center of this fraud is William "Rick" Singer, the 
founder of a college prep firm called the Edge College & Career 
Network, aka "The Key." He pled guilty and is cooperating.

The Sacramento Bee, quoted a local college admissions counselor 
Margie Ammot as saying: "Singer would tell parents that he could 
get their child into the college of their choice. Professional 
education consultants do not say, ‘I can get you into a 
specific, particular college.'"

Part of the Singer magic was allegedly having expert test takers 
take ACT and SAT tests for his clients and photoshopping 
applicants’ heads onto random athletic-looking bodies. In the 
New York Times piece about this, the focus was partly on today’s 
high-pressure application environment: "The charges underscored 
how college admissions have become so cutthroat and competitive 
that some have sought to break the rules.”

The reputation of elite colleges was built on merit. These 
institutions were envisioned as rungs for the those with the 
qualifications to climb up that ladder. They were not supposed 
to be clubs for the elites. We need to return to the principle 
of merit based admission again.

Well, guess what? The process has been super competitive for 
decades, especially since universities have increased admission 
of foreign students. That is no excuse for gaming the system, 
and in this case, breaking the law.

Talk about a "desperate housewife," apparently driven by 
desperate and illegal measures, a few years ago Felicity Huffman 
was tweeting a photo of herself, demanding respect and equality 
for "our daughters." I guess that wouldn’t apply to the girls 
applying opposite her daughters for a college slot.

Here’s how I see it: There was a time when colleges used to 
admit on merit — mainly test scores -- plus athletics and 
extracurriculars. Then they started various legal forms of 
corruption: legacy admissions, lowered standards for athletes, 
admission for big donors, and of course, affirmative action.

This latest bust takes the corruption to an entirely new level, 
where the elites "played” the process, turning what was a 
partial scam into a full-scale racket. Once college admissions 
is perceived as a scam, it attracts scam artists. The solution 
is to bust these scammers but also reconsider the legal scheme 
the elites have used and abused for years which only hurts the 
hard-working, qualified kids who deserve admission.

The reputation of elite colleges was built on merit. These 
institutions were envisioned as rungs for those with the 
qualifications to climb up that ladder. They were not supposed 
to be clubs for the elites.

We need to return to the principle of merit-based admission 
again. Make the lawbreakers pay in this case. But it’s also time 
to look at the institutionalized abuses of the admissions 
process, across the board, since these schools are being 
subsidized, in one way or another, by the taxpayers.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/laura-ingraham-college-admission-
scandal-is-what-real-abuse-of-privilege-looks-like
     

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Laura Ingraham: College admission scandal is what real abuse of privilege looks like "Elizabeth Paige Laurie" <cblasey@paloaltou.edu> - 2019-03-18 09:34 +0100

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