Yale University became the first school to officially rescind the admission of a student linked to the college admissions scandal on Monday. Former women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith gave bogus athletic endorsements to two students, one of whom was admitted to the school. Meredith has been charged with taking $400,000 in exchange for facilitating the admission of the student. Earlier this month, Yale President Peter Salovey said the school’s policy is to rescind the admission of students who falsified their applications.
Meredith is one of 50 people charged in the admissions scandal that included prominent business people and Hollywood actresses. A dozen coaches, university administrators and others facing racketeering charges pleaded not guilty Monday before a Boston judge, reports CBS News’ Carter Evans.
More than two dozen parents are scheduled for court appearances before the end of next week and one attorney insists the indictment does not tell the whole story. While most of the parents indicted in the scandal will be in court on Friday, two of the most high-profile defendants, Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, are expected in court next Wednesday.
Another 22 of those indicted will appear in court this week, and there could be more indictments to come. The scam’s mastermind, Rick Singer, said he worked with nearly 800 families, but only 33 parents are charged. At least one unidentified parent allegedly made a payment of $6.5 million.
Among those who pleaded not guilty Monday were a tennis coach from Georgetown and the water polo coach from the University of Southern California. They are accused of taking bribes to get undeserving students into some of the nation’s most elite schools.
The attorney for the Wake Forest University volleyball coach, accused of taking $100,000 to accept a wait-listed student, said his client does not belong in the indictment.
Donna Heinel, the former associate athletic director at USC, is accused of taking bribes to designate more than two dozen students as “recruited athletes,” including the daughters of actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli.
Heinel’s attorney defended her saying, “We look forward to reviewing the government’s evidence and fully restoring Donna’s reputation.”
Gregory Colburn is one of the indicted parents and for the first time, we’re hearing from his attorney. Colburn and his wife Amy are accused of paying Singer’s foundation $25,000 to have a proctor take the SAT’s for their son. Their apparent admission was recorded in a wiretapped conversation with Singer but their attorney told CBS News their son took the test himself and said there’s no evidence the proctor corrected his answers.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say that this case is a slam dunk,” said former federal prosecutor Laurie Levinson. “Even though they have an insider, he’s a vulnerable insider, and those wiretaps, what we know, might not tell the whole story.”
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