University of Southern California students who allegedly benefitted from that nationwide college admissions bribery scandal might have to pay the proverbial piper.
On Monday, the college announced that it placed a hold on some students’ accounts, preventing them from registering for future classes or acquiring their transcripts, as it conducts an internal case-by-case investigation of current students who may be connected to the alleged scheme.
The school explained in a statement:
“These students have been notified that their status is under review. Following the review, we will take the proper action related to their status, up to revoking admission or expulsion.”
Sounds about right.
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Two students who probably aren’t too bummed by this news? The daughters of Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli, who allegedly paid $500,000 to make it appear that their daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose had been recruits to the USC crew team, despite the fact that they never played the sport.
As we wrote, the girls are reportedly not returning to the school in fear that they would be “viciously bullied” over their parents’ alleged participation in the scheme. A source told People that Olivia had “no plans to return to USC” when classes started up again on Monday, explaining:
“She can’t handle anything right now. She seems more and more upset every day. She just wants to stay home… She thought she knew what the future had in store for her, and it all just crumbled. It’s a never-ending nightmare for her. She understands the serious consequences her parents are facing and she is very scared.”
Both Loughlin and Giannulli were arrested on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud last week, and were each freed on $1 million bonds. It’s not clear if Loughlin’s daughters were aware of their parents’ involvement; neither were charged in the indictments.
USC, meanwhile, has already fired two employees connected with the allegations. The school’s statement went on to say it also placed a faculty member who was named as a parent in the alleged scheme on leave, a “required procedural step in the process for evaluating the termination of tenured faculty.”
As for the students applying for the fall 2019 semester, the school said it “determined which applicants in the current admissions cycle are connected to the alleged scheme and they will be denied admission.”
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Donations that may have been received in association with the alleged scheme are also being evaluated, and, according to USC, will be redirected to a third party organization that benefits underserved students.
USC is just one of the prestigious schools named in the nationwide bribery scheme, which saw over 40 individuals charged in an alleged conspiracy to defraud and undermine student admissions at institutions like Georgetown University, Stanford University, UCLA, the University of San Diego, University of Texas, Wake Forest, and Yale.
[Image via Olivia Jade/Instagram]