When the FBI went public with Operation Varsity Blues and exposed a network of wealthy families cheating the college admissions system, Yale students were unsurprised to discover that their school was at the center of it all. A wealthy Yale dad had tipped off investigators. A Yale soccer coach had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from families eager to secure a spot at the Ivy League school.
The prosecutors confirmed what almost everyone already suspected: our higher education system is no meritocracy. Vice News Tonight met with Yale undergraduate students from high and low income backgrounds as they processed the news during their spring break. "I think people with a lot of money leveraging that to get into Yale was not surprising at all," explained Lily, a Yale senior from California who identifies as lower income. "But the extent of it is shocking. I think at first I was very like 'Oh, I'm so unsurprised.' And then the next day I was like 'No, I'm actually really angry.' I think the anger took a while because it was so funny."
For students from more affluent backgrounds, the scandal made them reflect on whether or not there was a moral difference between the fraud seen in this case and the socially accepted practice of wealthy families donating money and buying campus buildings. Ethan, a freshman and legacy of Yale, argued that at least donations have some benefit. "I think there is a moral difference between perhaps donations versus bribery... the school benefits and for other kids tuition and it might pay for new programs or something that can benefit people. Bribery doesn't go to the school."
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