The recent college bribery scandal has made headlines all of the past week as news broke that at least 50 people were alleged to be part of an admissions cheating scam, of which Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were part of. Lori Loughlin and her daughter who goes by Olivia Jade, have been getting the brunt of media attention, as Olivia has a large social media following and has brand deals with many large companies.
The internet has been going crazy reacting to the influencer’s part of the scandal. And of course celebrities from Julia Roberts to Olivia Munn joined in on the fun, not missing the chance to make fun of peak privilege. Dr. Dre (Andre Young), one of the wealthiest rappers with a net worth of 770 million dollars which he has amassed from a myriad of entrepreneurial ventures, posted a celebratory picture on Instagram showing off his daughter’s acceptance to USC. The picture was captioned, “My daughter got accepted into USC all on her own. No jail time!!!”
He later deleted the post after facing backlash. In attempt to throw shade at those in the middle of the bribery scandal, he turned the conversation to the legal bribery involved in the college admissions problem. Which is a huge problem- and just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s right. People were quick to note that Dr. Dre, along with Jimmy Iovine, made a $70 million donation to USC which was used to create the undergraduate program: USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. There’s no way that USC forgot those $70 million when looking at Dr. Dre’s daughters application.
This is the unfortunate reality of the admissions process. It favors the wealthy in the entire process. In preparation, wealthier kids already have an advantage with resources for tutoring, and SAT practice. Large donations from wealthy families can play a large role. Legacy may also influence the admission. A study by Raj Chetty, John Friedman, Emmanuel Saez, Nicholas Turner, and Danny Yagan showed that 38 colleges have more students from the top 1% than the bottom 60%. One in four of kids from the wealthiest families attend an elite college, in comparison to .5% of kids who come from poorer families. The entire process is unjust and disproportionately favors the wealthy. The recent bribery scandal is just a scratch at the surface.