“Operation Varsity Blues”: Preventing Future College Admissions Scandals

On March 12th, 2019 U.S. District Attorney Andrew Lelling publicly announced indictments against 57 individuals, including actor Lori Loughlin and her husband fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, for their roles in the nationwide conspiracy to influence college admissions decisions. During the investigation dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues,” it was discovered that socially prominent and wealthy parents were paying bribes to college admissions personnel, sports coaches, and even SAT testing services workers, in exchange for falsified admissions data for their offspring. In what became known as the “college admissions scandal,” individuals such as Loughlin’s daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Giannulli posed as “fake” athletic recruits for the University of Southern California’s (USC) rowing team. Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 to William “Rick” Singer, who was a mastermind of college admissions scandals, to get the titles of “athletic recruits” applied to their daughters’ names; however, neither young woman had any background in rowing. This case examines the illegal and unethical acts associated with the scandal, and what changes will be necessary for the public to trust the college admission process in future.