Lawsuit reveals how colleges really talk about rich applicants
Harvard professor Arthur Brooks joins Varney & Co. to discuss Jewish students suing the school, political ideology on college campuses, and his new book, Build the Life You Want.
A lawsuit that claims universities have agreed determining student financial aid packages provides insight into the ways in which top schools value privileged children over other members of the applicant pool.
At Georgetown University, a former president selected students for a special admissions list by consulting their parents’ giving history, not their transcripts, according to a lawsuit.At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a board member forced the school to admit two applicants who were children of a wealthy former business associate, the lawsuit alleges. And at Notre Dame, the registrar in charge of a special list of applicants wrote to others:
The petition, which was filed Tuesday Federal Court of Illinois, It’s the latest salvo in the lawsuit, which began in January 2022. The plaintiffs, who initially accused more than a dozen elite universities, have since settled. Tuesday’s petition seeks class-action status for the remaining five schools, MIT. For cases against Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown and Cornell University.
University of Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Indiana. (iStock / iStock)
For families embroiled in the college application process and faced with greater odds of getting into elite schools, the records raise suspicions that colleges have different standards for children of opportunity.
The University of Notre Dame’s Institutional Risk and Compliance Committee says accepting so many children of major donors poses a major risk to the institution’s brand if it becomes public, according to the petition. or about 4% of the entering class. Within that group, 76% of those donor admissions needed special attention to get in, the petition said.
Speaking about the Class of 2016, Donald Bishop, then vice president for undergraduate admissions, noted the decline in the top 30 academics while using the donor list.
WANT AN AI CAREER? THESE COLLEGES OFFER THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES
“We allowed their high gifts or potential gifts to influence our election this year more than last year,” Bishop said in a 2012 email filed in the lawsuit.
For spokespersons Georgetown, Notre Dame, and MIT said the schools plan to fight the lawsuit and that their students have all earned their spots. A Notre Dame spokesperson said the school is confident that “every student admitted to Notre Dame is fully qualified and ready to succeed.”
The Georgetown University campus is shown on March 12, 2019 in Washington, DC (Win McNamee/Getty Images/Getty Images)
It’s an uncertain time for elite universities, which have become the target of growing public frustration as President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to investigate the university’s internal operations and tax the elite schools’ endowments.
Part of the anger directed at the nation’s most prestigious schools comes from perceived hypocrisy.
Elite universities often portray themselves as meritorious, admitting the best and the brightest.Tuesday’s motion, based on years of speeches from exclusive gatherings, depositions and internal university reports, shows that officials are bowing out. financial pressures admit wealthy students over potentially more qualified candidates.
AMERICANS’ CONFIDENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION has dropped 21 points since 2015.
The revelations in a separate court case about racial preferences in college admissions revealed that Harvard University had a “Z” list, a route through which weaker but wealthy or connected applicants could gain admission.
A view of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/Getty Images)
In the past few years, several schools, including Amherst College, have gotten rid of legacy admissions.In addition, several states, including California, have banned the practice.
Inside the suit
Tuesday’s lawsuit seeks class action certification and seeks $685 million in damages, which would triple that number under U.S. antitrust laws. Ten schools, including Dartmouth College, Northwestern University and Rice university, received a total of $284 million, and two others settled for undisclosed amounts.
Greene College in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, on the campus of Dartmouth College, Sunday, October 17, 2021. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The lawsuit also includes testimony from Sarah Harberson, Penn’s associate dean of admissions from 1999 to 2008, who was fired over the case in October 2023. families who were big donors or knew any member of the Board of Trustees.
Those students were assured of admission.
If the school was over-enrolled, they were protected regardless of their academic standing. “You had absolutely no authority as an admissions officer,” Harberson said in his deposition.
CREATE A FOX BUSINESS WITH A QUICK CLICK HERE!
A spokesman for Penn said he saw no merit in the lawsuit.
“The factual evidence in the case shows that Penn does not favor admission to students whose families have donated or pledged to donate to Penn, regardless of size,” the spokesperson said.
At Georgetown, the former president selected students for the annual president’s list after reviewing parental giving history and ability information, but without reviewing the applicant’s transcript, teacher recommendations or personal essays. He often wrote “Please admit” at the top of the list, according to the petition.
English