College cheating Scandal. a list celebs indicted in a nationwide scheme.

via variety

In a TV crossover we certainly did NOT need, Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman and Aunt Becky aka Lori Loughlin from Full House were indicted

on Tuesday in nationwide fraud concerning college admissions. The “Operation Varsity Blues” scheme involved at least 50 -yes fiddy- others including college admission companies, CEOs, and college recruiters that helped their children cheat their way into the top schools by falsifying athletic records and cheating on college entrance exams. Some of the colleges affected were UCLA, USC, Stanford, Yale and Georgetown states the LA Times.

Beginning in 2011 and just now surfacing 8 years later, this news is some wild and random B.S. But what is shocking in the academic world, is not news to the real world tbh. The only difference is the A-star paper trail. What this “news” does, is further expose how wealthy white children are able to buy their way into what has claimed to be a merit-based system. A system that beats potential students into believing that their sole value relies on their SAT scores, GPAs, extracurriculars and unpaid internships. When in fact, there are those who can literally bypass their way out of those stressors with money. Stressors that lead some to a mental breaking point.

via cnn

It is reported that Loughlin paid $500,000 in bribes to get her daughter Olivia Jade into USC. In a Buzzfeed article, the Youtube influencer continuously talks about her dissatisfaction with being in school in her vlogs. Stating: “I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend but I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of like game days, partying — I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”

Olivia’s statement is a direct slap in the face to those who actually need a degree to support themselves and their future. Which is hard enough, with new studies showing that an undergraduate degree may not even be enough. Her unappreciation for, not only being able to attend college in the first place, but at an elite University is heartbreaking to hear when it comes to someone who may have desperately needed and earned that spot.

via usc trojans

Does this conversation sound familiar? That is because this is the same rhetoric those against affirmative action continuously repeat (also see Chicago is America’s most violent city). This is a conversation of privilege-- both racial and class. A class based privilege because her parents had the ability and financial means to buy her into school with the same amount of money that could have financed scholarships for SEVERAL students (instead of their one daughter), is just one example. Not everyone in America has an extra $500,000 laying around. Not everyone in America will even see that amount of money in their bank accounts.

A racial privilege that minority students are not afforded because they must earn their way through school, some being heckled and discredited when they fairly get in. Remember Michael Brown, the black student who got into 20 Ivy Leagues only to have Fox News call him “obnoxious”?

While the final details are still coming to light, let's take the time to congratulate those who got into college (Ivy or not) on their own terms with their own hard work. You are not victims of this scheme, you are overachievers. And I am proud of you.