USC Says It Will Deny Admission To All Students Connected To The Cheating Scheme – BuzzFeed News

LOS ANGELES — The university most embroiled in the elaborate, nationwide admissions scandal announced late Wednesday it will deny all student applicants linked to the scam and has begun reviewing current students and graduates who may be connected.

Since the shocking revelation of the largest college admissions cheating scandal in US history was announced Tuesday, the University of Southern California has taken swift action against those involved in the bribery scheme, firing its most-decorated head coach, a top admissions officer, and placing one of its most prominent dentistry professors on leave.

Prosecutors say Rick Singer, the 58-year-old life coach and alleged ringleader of the operation, enlisted USC’s associate athletic director, Donna Heinel, to help fabricate the athletic achievements of more than two dozen students from 2014 to 2018, raking in more than $1.3 million in bribe payments.

While the cheating case has involved elite schools across the US, including Harvard, Stanford, and Georgetown, USC has been at the heart of the scandal.

The university fired Heinel, along with its legendary water polo team coach on Tuesday. School officials confirmed Wednesday that it had placed professor Homayoun Zadeh, the chair of its periodontology department, on leave after federal officials accused the doctor of refinancing his Calabasas house to pay Singer the $100,000 needed to help his daughter get into USC.

The University admitted her as a star lacrosse player, even though she had never played the sport, federal prosecutors said.

Like Zadeh, about half of the 32 parents who allegedly paid the California life coach to fix their children’s applications wanted their kids to get into USC.

Actor Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were charged with paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters into USC as recruits for the crew team, despite the fact that the children weren’t playing the sport.

Now, school officials say they’re going to conduct a thorough, “case-by-case review of current students and graduates that may be connected to the scheme alleged by the government.”

“We will make informed, appropriate decisions once those reviews have been completed,” Leigh Hopper, a USC spokesperson, said. “Some of these individuals may have been minors at the time of their application process.”

The sprawling scandal, which involved actresses, tech moguls, college admissions officials, coaches, and top executives, started in 2011 when universities began receiving applications from potential students whose parents had potentially manipulated their applications.

USC said Wednesday that it will deny admission any applicants “who are connected to the scheme.”

Other universities have issued similar statements. the University of California, Los Angeles, told BuzzFeed News that it was reviewing allegations “as they relate to admissions decisions.”

“If UCLA discovers that any prospective, admitted or enrolled student has misrepresented any aspect of his/her application, or that information about the applicant has been withheld, UCLA may take a number of disciplinary actions, up to and including cancellation of admission,” said Tod Tamberg, a university spokesperson.

The massive scandal is not the only one to recently roil USC. It’s currently in the throes of several investigations after a longtime student health gynecologist abused hundreds of students and that the dean of its medical school heavily used drugs.