What many people know about the college admissions scandal is that rich families paid their way into America’s top schools — often with fake test scores and fraudulent athletic records. Or that famous actors like Felicity Huffman or Full House‘s Lori Laughlin pled guilty for their involvement.
The FBI’s varsity blues operation charged more than 50 people. At least 30 of those are parents who are accused of paying college counselor Rick Singer to get their kid into what he called the “side door” of universities. Others were the college athletic coaches who accepted students with falsified records for bribes.
But you may not know about John Vandemoer, the former Stanford sailing coach who was the first person charged in the FBI sting. He says he was collateral damage in the larger crackdown – and never took any money for himself.
John Vandemoer wrote about it in his new book, “Rigged Justice: How the College Admissions Scandal Ruined an Innocent Man’s life.”
We talk with John and discuss the state of higher education today with NYU Professor Scott Galloway.
Copyright 2021 WAMU 88.5