America’s Future Is Being Challenged at Universities
The meritocracy that once defined the American education system must be restored
It seems that these days, not a month goes by without another scandal erupting on American college campuses. Last month, the University of Southern California saw a scandal exposed that was severe enough to lead to the resignation of the university’s twelfth president, Carol Folt. Moving to USC after a six year stint at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Folt, who will be retiring at the end of the academic year, was tasked with turning the university around after the now infamous, Varsity Blues scandal erupted. This saw parents, athletic department heads, and university officials all implicated in what can only be defined as a cheating scandal.
In short, those in positions of power at the university were accused of making place for students who paid for their place at respective universities under the table. University officials were shown to have been admitting such students, as integral parts of athletic departments, even though some of these students had no athletic background whatsoever. Senior university members such as Donna Heinel, former Senior Associate Athletic Director and Jovan Vavic, a senior coach, were exposed and sentenced to prison. Others, like communications professor Courtney Pade managed to successfully stay out of the news and out of prison despite accusations that have been levied against her of playing an important role in the pay for play scheme. Courtney Pade faced similar allegations at an elementary school in Pacific Palisades of which she is a board member, St Matthew’s Parish School, where she was known to be able to facilitate school admission for students whose parents were willing to pay the right price.
Although the University leadership has promised to clean up the admissions process and rectify these issues, a new scandal has now erupted. According to a recent investigation by the Los Angeles Times, a further fraudulent admission scandal at the University of Southern California was uncovered that saw children from wealthy families given place at the University under the premise of being “walk on” or back up athletes in exchange for millions in donations. If this sounds almost identical to the previous scandal, that’s because it is, with university officials, functionally, exploiting, lax or non-existent oversight in the athletic departments for their own financial gain.
The problems discussed, however, extend far beyond the USC campus, with people in positions of power like Donna Heinel, Jovan Vavic and Courtney Pade existing on almost every campus. The Varsity Blues admission scandal was a national one, and just like the problem persevered beneath the surface at USC, it is undoubtable that the same is true of many other universities nationwide. The need to address this is obvious, but the question of how really is the challenge at hand.
With a new administration due in January, top priority should be given to cleaning up the American education system. Considering that almost all of these institutions are recipients of federal funding, with many students attending with the help of generous federal financial aid provided as loans, there is certainly room for federal oversight. States also have a role to play, particularly as many of these state schools, are state funded. Timely checks should be conducted regarding students that are admitted, and considering the extent to which athletics departments in particular have been exploited, these should be kept under magnifying glass as well.
It is unfortunate that the state of affairs at American universities has come to this. What was once upon a time considered one of the few places where class and background made no difference, the education system, continues to be cynically exploited by people only interested in self-enrichment, at the expense of society and students’ futures. This exceptionally concerning phenomenon must be brought to an abrupt end, sooner rather than later.
