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Wake Forest University Coach Named By FBI in Bribery and Academic Fraud Scandal

- The booster clubs and universities had no idea this was going on. That’s how and why the scam worked.
- As Singer said, there are 3 ways to get into elite colleges: the front door (academics), the back door (make a huge donation), or the side door, which he designed (bribe a coach so he/she goes to bat for your kid).
- I would guess this all traces back to USC. That’s where the majority of those accused are located (including where Ferguson came from), and a lot of the families are from southern California.

Again - how many $40k+ donations does the volleyball team get? Shouldn’t that have raised red flags at the DC?
 
I am interested in this asu hockey story. Any links to sources on that?

Second, I think Rafi is on target here. Good bad or ugly, schools have been getting donations connected to specific students since the middle ages. Admission decisions can be driven by those donations. That is not illegal although certainly whether it is a good way to run a higher education system is open for discussion. The crime here is the coach deceiving the institution in exchange for a payoff.

Third, the main thing that the Deacon club uses donations for is scholarships for deserving student athletes. So a good chunk of that $10k went to funding, say, Chaundee Brown's full ride. Don't see why Wake needs to do anything different with it.

Similarly the $40k given to the volleyball program was probably spent on schollies for actual kids who could play (well, sorta) or uniforms etc for the actual players. Taking it away just harms the other players. They are already the victims here, because instead of a teammate who could actually help, their coach allegedly used one of his admissions chips to line his pockets.
 
So are you saying non-revenue sports are NOT part of a scam even though the FBI clearly showed they are?

Are you saying it’s bad or wrong that I said the Deacon Club is complicit if they don’t return the $50K even though you support it?

Stop arguing just to argue, DeacMan. Find another way to get beers.

How are "non-revenue" sports part of the scam, Ph? They aren't. One guy took a bribe and tried to get a student admitted to school fraudulently. That's all that happened. It could just as easily have happened at the admissions department. It could have happened on the debate team. It could have happened in the art department. On the one hand you aren't "indicting" non-revenue sports. On the other hand you're droning on about how "non-revenue sports are part of a scam" and how the Deacon Club is "complicit" in all of this because someone happened to write them a check.

So Wake got duped by the volleyball coach. What monolithic changes should we implement to ensure "merit" prevails Ph? How shall we cure the Deacon Club's "complicit" behavior in this awful travesty even though we have zero proof they had any idea the volleyball coach was committing a crime? Actually say something pragmatic for once in your life.
 
The guy charged with racketeering will be owning plenty of money to wherever the feds direct it.

Good job avoiding taking a stance though.

I’m not trying to avoid taking a stance, I just have no idea what’s going to happen with that money. If the feds said “do with it as you please” then sure, giving it to a charity seems like a good approach.
 
Again - how many $40k+ donations does the volleyball team get? Shouldn’t that have raised red flags at the DC?
I would wager that it is not at all uncommon for the Deacon Club to get large donations from parents of athletes who play country club sports.
 
Again - how many $40k+ donations does the volleyball team get? Shouldn’t that have raised red flags at the DC?

Not at all. The Deacon Club knows there is a really rich girl on the volleyball team and that’s where the money is coming from. It’s not a mystery. What they don’t know, and what no one knew until now, is the volleyball coach took a bribe to list her as a recruited athlete so she would be accepted. This is why, again, the schools and booster clubs are not indicted.
 
I would wager that it is not at all uncommon for the Deacon Club to get large donations from parents of athletes who play country club sports.

You may or may not be surprised that we have big donors who sit in the Deacon Tower to watch their sons play football.
 
How are "non-revenue" sports part of the scam, Ph? They aren't. One guy took a bribe and tried to get a student admitted to school fraudulently. That's all that happened. It could just as easily have happened at the admissions department. It could have happened on the debate team. It could have happened in the art department. On the one hand you aren't "indicting" non-revenue sports. On the other hand you're droning on about how "non-revenue sports are part of a scam" and how the Deacon Club is "complicit" in all of this because someone happened to write them a check.

So Wake got duped by the volleyball coach. What monolithic changes should we implement to ensure "merit" prevails Ph? How shall we cure the Deacon Club's "complicit" behavior in this awful travesty even though we have zero proof they had any idea the volleyball coach was committing a crime? Actually say something pragmatic for once in your life.

Did you read about the whole story? There wasn’t just one guy involved. There were dozens of coaches of non-revenue sports involved. How can you say these sports weren’t part of the scam when they were?

I assume the Deacon Club knows because the rest of us know. You agreed with me that they would be wrong to keep the money. Why are you arguing about it?
 
I would wager that it is not at all uncommon for the Deacon Club to get large donations from parents of athletes who play country club sports.

How about from a random non-profit from Southern California?
 
So Wake got duped by the volleyball coach. What monolithic changes should we implement to ensure "merit" prevails Ph? How shall we cure the Deacon Club's "complicit" behavior in this awful travesty even though we have zero proof they had any idea the volleyball coach was committing a crime? Actually say something pragmatic for once in your life.

From Georgetown:

In November 2018, the university implemented a new policy regarding the admission of student-athletes. The policy specifies that head coaches may only recommend candidates for admission “who they believe will contribute to the team from an athletic standpoint,” and forbids athletic department staff from modifying the application of prospective student-athletes in any way. It also implements a system of periodic audits by the Office of Admissions and the athletic department, “to determine whether any of the recruited student-athletes were not on the roster of the sport they were recruited for at Georgetown.” If any student-athlete is found to not be on the roster of the team for which they were recruited, the coach must submit a written explanation of the discrepancy.
 
From Georgetown:

In November 2018, the university implemented a new policy regarding the admission of student-athletes. The policy specifies that head coaches may only recommend candidates for admission “who they believe will contribute to the team from an athletic standpoint,” and forbids athletic department staff from modifying the application of prospective student-athletes in any way. It also implements a system of periodic audits by the Office of Admissions and the athletic department, “to determine whether any of the recruited student-athletes were not on the roster of the sport they were recruited for at Georgetown.” If any student-athlete is found to not be on the roster of the team for which they were recruited, the coach must submit a written explanation of the discrepancy.

Would have thought that was standard procedure.
 
Not at all. The Deacon Club knows there is a really rich girl on the volleyball team and that’s where the money is coming from. It’s not a mystery. What they don’t know, and what no one knew until now, is the volleyball coach took a bribe to list her as a recruited athlete so she would be accepted. This is why, again, the schools and booster clubs are not indicted.

I don't follow this statement. When the WF Women's Volleyball team received a $40,000 donation, it was not from a really rich girl on the team or her family
 
I am interested in this asu hockey story. Any links to sources on that?

Second, I think Rafi is on target here. Good bad or ugly, schools have been getting donations connected to specific students since the middle ages. Admission decisions can be driven by those donations. That is not illegal although certainly whether it is a good way to run a higher education system is open for discussion. The crime here is the coach deceiving the institution in exchange for a payoff.

Third, the main thing that the Deacon club uses donations for is scholarships for deserving student athletes. So a good chunk of that $10k went to funding, say, Chaundee Brown's full ride. Don't see why Wake needs to do anything different with it.

Similarly the $40k given to the volleyball program was probably spent on schollies for actual kids who could play (well, sorta) or uniforms etc for the actual players. Taking it away just harms the other players. They are already the victims here, because instead of a teammate who could actually help, their coach allegedly used one of his admissions chips to line his pockets.

This is all correct. I would add that the kids in these scenarios are almost certainly not on any scholarships. Their parents are rich enough to pay huge bribes, so they are paying full tuition. And the coaches want to win and keep their jobs, so they are recruiting the best players they can by giving the best players the scholarships.

I will also add that I have always thought there are many ways individual students can enhance a school. Some through academics, others athletics, others music/art/drama/etc, and others financially. I certainly favor the first reasons over the financial reasons, but I also understand the reality that some students bring millions of dollars into the school based on their family. This doesn’t apply to this scam, but it does to the “back door” approach to admissions.
 
You know what could have prevented all of this ? More college administrators.
 
DeacMan, why do you keep bringing up ASU? Of course I'm against that. Why would you think I'd be fine with that? What a weird "Gotcha!" attempt.

Why are you against that per se? Do you not see a difference between that and what the volleyball coach did? I certainly do. I can understand why it would bother you. But I can also understand why the ASU case is not at all the same scenario from the perspective of the school. In one situation an individual is lining his own pockets without the school's knowledge and pushing the school to admit someone he probably otherwise wouldn't want admitted. He is hijacking the admissions process solely for personal gain. In the other case the school presumably knows it is admitting the son of a billionaire who is a marginal (at best) D1 hockey prospect. The school is deciding it is worth spending a roster spot on a player who likely won't be much help to the team with the hopes they'll get some donations to the athletic department. To be clear, if you can play in the NAHL you are a good hockey player. So while this kid is unlikely to ever contribute meaningfully at ASU's program, it isn't like he's an automatic fraud.
 
I don't follow this statement. When the WF Women's Volleyball team received a $40,000 donation, it was not from a really rich girl on the team or her family

I’m sure they knew the “non profit” from which the donation came was associated with her parents. I would guess they made that very clear. Again, that’s how this scam worked.
 
From Georgetown:

In November 2018, the university implemented a new policy regarding the admission of student-athletes. The policy specifies that head coaches may only recommend candidates for admission “who they believe will contribute to the team from an athletic standpoint,” and forbids athletic department staff from modifying the application of prospective student-athletes in any way. It also implements a system of periodic audits by the Office of Admissions and the athletic department, “to determine whether any of the recruited student-athletes were not on the roster of the sport they were recruited for at Georgetown.” If any student-athlete is found to not be on the roster of the team for which they were recruited, the coach must submit a written explanation of the discrepancy.

In other words, do some due diligence on the actual athletic merit of players coaches want to admit. That, naturally, won't necessarily stop bribery from occurring. But it does do something to assure student athletes coaches seek to admit are actually athletes.
 
I’m sure they knew the “non profit” from which the donation came was associated with her parents. I would guess they made that very clear. Again, that’s how this scam worked.

whose parents? a girl who, at the time of the donation, was on the WF volleyball team? that's what you keep saying
 
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