Eight prestigious universities are trying to contain the fallout from the largest college admissions scandal in US history after the story, involving celebrities, standardized test proctors and tutors, world famous lawyers and powerful executives, and even college level athletic coaches, broke early on in the week of March 10, 2019. Actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were among those taken down in the scandal. The investigation has been dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues” and at least 33 parents are facing charges, according to US attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling.

William Rick Singer, the apparent mastermind behind the operation, was paid about $25 million to aid their children’s acceptance to some of the top academic institutions in the country. On Tuesday, March 12, he plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice. The possibility of charging students has been raised as well, with at least one of the involved institutions claiming they will deny acceptance to any prospective students linked to the scandal.

The University of Southern California was involved with some of the biggest names in the scandal, including Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli, and is at the epicenter of Operation Varsity Blues. President Wanda Austin stated that USC will use any donated money connected to the scandal to fund scholarships for underprivileged applicants and prospective students. University spokesman Gary Polakovic stated that all applicants connected to the scandal in anyway will be denied admission and that a review will be conducted for enrolled students. By the morning of Friday, March 15, USC had identified six students in the current applicant pool that would be denied entry due to connection with the scandal.

University of California Los Angeles let go of their men’s soccer coach Jorge Salcedo on account of the conspiracy to commit racketeering charges he faces. While it is unclear to the university if there are any student-athletes to be suspicious of, they have said they will conduct a review of the allegations as they relate to admissions decisions. UCLA stated that if any prospective, admitted, or enrolled student misrepresented any aspects of their application, disciplinary actions will be taken, including cancellation of admission or termination of current enrollment.

Stanford University has fired the head coach of the sailing team who has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. Coach John Vandemoer is believed to have accepted financial contributions to the sailing program in exchange for recommending two prospective students for admission. However, neither student was admitted to the university. One was initially denied admission and intended to reapply, but never submitted a second application. The second never submitted an application at all. Stanford has stated that they are unaware of the allegations involving other prospective students or currently enrolled students, but that the institution plans to conduct an official review to confirm their belief and keep the prestige of the university intact.

Georgetown University’s former tennis coach, Gordon Ernst, has also been charged in the scheme. According to GU, Ernst has not coached the tennis team since 2017, after an internal investigation concluded he had violated university admission rules. The university has also stated they were unaware of their past employee’s involvement in the scandal until they were contacted by a US attorney, and that his actions are against the ethics of the institution. University spokesman Matt Hill said there is no evidence that other Georgetown employees had any involvement in Operation Varsity Blues. Ernst now coaches at the University of Rhode Island, and has been placed on administrative leave. URI has said he is not involved in recruiting new players.

Yale University’s former women’s soccer coach was apparently conspiring with Singer to accept bribes in exchange for designating Yale applicants as recruits for the team. Rudy Meredith was the head coach for more than two decades and began working with Singer in 2015. President Peter Salovey stated the Ivy League school will implement new policies and changes to ensure actions such as these never take place again.

Wake Forest University’s volleyball coach Bill Ferguson was put on administrative leave after he was charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering. Ferguson is allegedly guilty of accepting payments to influence the admission of a student on the waitlist. President Nathan Hatch said the admissions process and athletics are under review, but it appears as if Ferguson acted alone and was the only member of the institution involved with the misconduct.

The University of Texas at Austin has cut ties with their men’s tennis coach, Michael Center, charges were brought against him for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. The fraud is said to have taken place in 2015.

University of San Diego is cooperating in the investigation but has said they have no reason to believe their admissions or coaching staff is involved in any way. President James Harris has said that if they uncover any violations in the midst of their internal review, appropriate action will be taken.

Lori Loughlin’s daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, were originally enrolled into the University of Southern California as crew recruits, but had never participated in crew and had not planned to do so at college. Olivia Jade is a social media influencer with a large following on YouTube. In August of 2018, before she entered her freshman year at USC, she posted a video explaining her expectations for her college experience. “I don’t know how much of school I’m going to attend. But I do want the experience of, like, game days, partying. … I don’t really care about school.” The girls have both decided that they are not returning to USC are afraid of being viciously bullied by their fellow students.

This scandal has taken place in the midst of the application process for many prospective students across the world. With acceptance letters being sent out from various schools each day, students and parents are wondering if their children will be attending school with a student who paid to get in, rather than being accepted on their own accord. Oakland public school teacher Jennifer Kay Toy filed a $500 million lawsuit in a San Francisco Court on Wednesday, March 13 against the parents and schools involved in the scandal. She has done this on behalf of her son Joshua, who did not get into any of the schools involved in Operation Varsity Blues despite his 4.2 GPA. “I’m now outraged and hurt because I feel that my son, my only child, was denied access to a college not because he failed to work and study hard enough but because wealthy individuals felt that it was OK to lie, cheat, steal and bribe their children’s way into a good college,” the lawsuit reads.