Lately, United States actress Felicity Huffman has been in the spotlights, not for her talent, but rather for her participation in one of the largest university bribe scandals in America’s history.
In March this year, a nation-wide college admissions scam was revealed by authorities. It turned out that many famous people and celebrities, part of the United States elite have given bribes so that their children can go to prestigious higher education institutions.
The scandalous bribe scheme was run by William “Rick” Singer, who connected parents with the respective institutions, and organized the terms of the bribe.
Who was involved in the university bribe scandal?
Felicity Huffman is only one of the big names involved in the university bribe scandal. Among the list of celebrities who offered to pay for their children to be admitted to prestigious US universities, one can see names like Lori Laughlin, a famous American actress, and Mossimo Giannulli, famous clothes designer.
What’s even more impressive is which universities were involved in the scandal. Stanford is one of the big names we have to mention. While the university secured a remarkable fourth place in the overall ranking of the THE World University Rankings, it turned out that Stanford’s admissions policies are not so world-class.
According to court documents, a sailing coach at Stanford University required bribes on numerous occasions. One family was reportedly requested to make a substantial charitable donation, of the volume of about six and a half million dollars (USD 6.5 million) in order to see their daughter graduate from a renowned program at Stanford.
Felicity Huffman and the scandal
While there are around thirty-three (33) parents involved in the university bribe scandal, Felicity Huffman is probably the most famous person on the list.
According to the charges, Ms. Huffman paid around fifteen thousand dollars (USD 15,000) for her daughter’s SAT scores to be altered, so that she can get in a better higher education institution.
For this crime, Ms. Huffman was only sentenced to fourteen days in jail, after she pleaded guilty to the charges. While many people have disagreed with the symbolic severity of the punishment, singer John Legend expressed his support for the actress:
I get why everyone gets mad when rich person X gets a short sentence and poor person of color Y gets a long one. The answer isn't for X to get more; it's for both of them to get less (or even none!!!) We should level down not up.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) September 14, 2019
The university bribe scandal is a precedent in American history, and many people argue that Ms. Huffman should have been given a more severe sentence in order to serve as an example. She is the first to be sentenced in the case, and there are more than thirty defendants to appear before the court.
