(Vymun 2022) Specialized Committee Background Guide

VYMUN 2022
SPECIALIZED COMMITTEE
SCom
Background Guide
Topic:
Prestigious American Universities: Unveiling the Scandals
Ninh Hai Nam
Crisis Directors: Pham Nhat Duong, Nguyen Trong Khang

SPECIALIZED COMMITTEE
Content Developer: Vo Nguyen Tra Giang
(S-COM)
BACKGROUND GUIDE
Topic:
Prestigious American Universities: Unveiling the Scandals
Ninh Hai Nam

Crisis Directors: Pham Nhat Duong, Nguyen Trong Khang
1 VYMUN 2022 | S-COM
Content Developer: Vo Nguyen Tra Giang
Table Of
Contents
TEAM INTRODUCTION 4
NINH HAI NAM 4
PHAM NHAT DUONG 5
NGUYEN TRONG KHANG 6
COMMITTEE OVERVIEW 7
COMMITTEE BACKGROUND 7
COMMITTEE PROCEDURE 7
Crisis Flow 7
Draft Resolution 10
Committee Structure 10
CORE ISSUES THROUGH SCANDALS EXPLORATION 12
Bribery/Legacy in Admissions 12
Cases Studies 12
Operation Varsity Blues 12

SAT Bribery 15
Legacy Admissions 16
Sexual Harassment & Assault 17
Sexual harassment, and its frequent occurance in US Universities 17
Why has that been the case? What are the stopping solutions? 17
Cases Studies 19
Racism in institutions 20
Case Studies 20
Students for Fair Admissions v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College 20
Manipulation of the US College Ranking Systems 20
The significance of the college ranking system 20
Factors deciding rankings - how they can be manipulated 21
Case Studies 22
PAST ACTIONS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 23
Resolving and preventing future “Operation Varsity Blues” 23
The origin of OVB: NCAA’s exception 23
Criminal charges and sentencing 23
Some comprehensive frameworks of resolutions: 23
Minimizing purchasing admission via donations 26

Combating sexual harassment and assault 27
Sexual Assault - U.S. Department of Education Title IX 27
Reconsidering the appropriateness of CSR 28
BLOC POSITION 29
Ivy League and Private National Universities 29
Public National Universities 29
Liberal Arts Colleges 30
Bibliography 31

TEAM
INTRODUCTION
NINH HAI NAM
Greetings delegates,
It is my great pleasure to serve as a member of VYMUN 2022’s Research and Planning

Department. The unprecedented perpetuation of the pandemic has prevented
Vietnam MUN Community from witnessing in-person heated debates, unexpected
midnight crises, exhilarating bonding sessions, and so on. I wholeheartedly hope that
I can welcome each and every one of you with open arms to the offline conference
of VYMUN 2022 and particularly our Specialized Committee.
Originally from the bustling urban center of Thanh Hoa, I am now a freshman at
Colorado College, majoring in Mathematical Economics. I embarked on the MUN
journey during 10th grade and since then I have set foot in six different cities for
multiple conferences, playing the role of delegates, content developers, and chairs.
Currently I am Deputy Head of Research & Planning Department of VYCO and
Trainer of Colorado College’s Model United Nations Club.
I personally applied to 18 universities and colleges in the U.S. when I was a high
school senior, having undergone all “hazards and vicissitudes’’ of the U.S. college
application process. Unfair admissions, astronomical tuition fees, systemic racism,
covert sexual harassment, etc. have portrayed the hidden darkness of the seemingly
rose-coloured picture of American college life. Scandals from the ivory tower of
academia, therefore, inspire the creation of VYMUN22’s SCom – Prestigious American
Universities: Unveiling the Scandals.
Whether untouched sides of distinguished universities will be disclosed or not depends

on the magical hands of the school representatives – my prospective delegates.
Exposure of bribery behind an acceptance letter or prosecution of sexual assaults,
together with startling official statements and media coverage, will be fantastic
stimuli to the flow of the council. However, keep in mind delegates: education is not
a showbiz—institutions need collective actions to refine their blurred reputation.
Let your creativity fly, your talent shine, but most importantly, your diplomacy speak!
Cordially,
Ninh Hai Nam
Chairman at VYMUN 2022
nhnam.vyco@gmail.com

TEAM
INTRODUCTION
PHAM NHAT DUONG
To all the ambitious learners,
It is now no secret that elite college admissions have never been strictly meritocratic,
specifically on academic grounds. In March 2019, federal prosecutors charged 50
different individuals implicated in one of the most elaborate brazen test-fixing and
college bribery schemes the world had seen in a while. Athletic credentials, legacy
status, and money are now implicitly acknowledged as the key components to
cheating the college admissions system at select U.S colleges nationwide.
Higher education has long been meticulously glamorized as the gateway to a

happier, more fulfilling, and ultimately a successful life—especially for non-white,
non-wealthy kids from ethnic or financially-deprived communities, who are all
seeking a chance to be a social climber or ‘parvenu’. Many commentators are not
only lamenting the effects of these crooked wealthy parents’ relentless attempts at
college fraud but also deploring the fact that elite schools are becoming increasingly
more profit-driven than they are ethical. Sexual harassment and systemic racism are
among a few other contributors to a growing crisis concerning educational equality,
equity, and access.
As a college senior at RMIT University Vietnam, growing up, I have experienced my

fair share of disillusionment with higher education. I understand the frustration with the
lack of transparency and credibility in leaders of these elite institutions. Hence, I hope
as the future Crisis Director, VYMUN22’s SCom – Prestigious American Universities:
Unveiling the Scandals will provide you with an opportunity to gain insights into how
these scandals are systematically amplifying and exacerbating disparities among
students. Hopefully, with this council, we can try to take a small step towards creating
a future where campus experience is truly earned not purchased.
Until then,
Duong Nhat Pham
Crisis Director at VYMUN 2022
pnduong.vyco@gmail.com

TEAM
INTRODUCTION
NGUYEN TRONG KHANG
Esteemed delegates,
I am honored to be serving as one of the Crisis Directors of the Specialized

Committee for this year’s edition of VYMUN. As early as 7th Grade, I found myself
innocently stepping into the Model UN community, feeling probably as disoriented
as any first-time MUNer would feel. However, having gone through almost 5 years
worth of conferences, Model UN has created numerous unforgettable memories and
experiences that I wish to be able to pass on to the Vietnam MUN Community. That
may come in the form of creating new bonds through bonding sessions, teaching
yourself the ability to think critically about issues during debates, and many more.
Participating has allowed me to not only explore numerous cities around South East
Asia, but also helped me learn many critical skills for the 21st Century. Alongside our
chair Hai Nam, as well as my esteemed co-Crisis Director Nhat Duong, we hope to
shape an exciting environment where growth can be facilitated.
A little bit about me, I will be finishing up my senior year in the International School of
HCMC, and will be committing to majoring in Chemical Engineering in the future. As
a person who has recently experienced the ups and downs of college admissions in
the United States, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the reality within
US universities. Perhaps that may come in the form of many forms of harassment,
systematic racism in admissions, or even bribery. It is imperative that we look past
the facade - which is the seemingly flawless university environment - and tackle the
problems which has affected millions of fellow students all around the world.
However, the more important thing that we want to emphasize is that you, as the
delegations representing these universities, come to a consensus on these issues.
How should we go about and tackle existing issues, and more importantly, what
actions should be taken to mitigate it? From your interactions with fellow delegates,
I hope it allows you to discover insights into the scandals which exist within these
prestigious universities, as well as think critically about the state of higher-level
education in the US.
Good luck and have fun!
Sincerely,
Nguyen Trong Khang (TK)
Crisis Director - VYMUN 2022
ntkhang.vyco@gmail.com

COMMITTEE
OVERVIEW
COMMITTEE BACKGROUND
The United States has always been believed to be the best education provider
throughout the world, appealing to the enrollment of millions of students on a global
scale. From a microeconomic perspective, the signaling function of a college
degree makes it significantly important to go to a good university. In other words,
there are a wealth of differences that graduating from a prestigious university
would make for young individuals these days, including but not limited to: better
employment opportunities, a strong network of supportive alumni, and a lingering
good reputation for yourself.
However, U.S. education is also undeniably a business, especially in the case of

private schools. Without endowments or profits, universities in the U.S. will struggle
manfully to operate and facilitate a meaningful learning and researching
environment for their students and faculty. Combining the pressing importance
of money and the role a Bachelor’s degree plays in this modernized society, the
university system in America has prompted a multiplicity of dire issues ranging from
problematic admissions to racism, sexism, and harassment.
Therefore, this committee is where an association of top-notch colleges and

universities in the U.S. convene to resolve thrusting problems that are specifically
related to renowned universities. Comprising a wide array of universities: public
universities, private national universities, and liberal arts colleges, this council will
foster collaboration to improve the public image of U.S. tertiary education, clarify
scandals in the past, resolve current crises, and implement long-term frameworks for
this coalition.
This committee will allow delegates to approach debate and flow of council from
a different perspective from General Assemblies. Working as representatives of
prominent universities whose policies might impact generations of posterity, not only
will delegates have to be very meticulous in writing resolutions but they also need to
be creative, innovative, and determined in crafting directives.
COMMITTEE PROCEDURE
The committee will adopt the semi-crisis mechanism throughout the conference
duration, meaning the baseline documents for delegates’ discussion would still be
Draft Resolutions like in a GA council. Simultaneously, there will be crisis plotlines for
delegates to navigate through either as individual college institutions or any other
affiliated parties. You must familiarize yourself with the particular instruments and
writings as a navigation tool throughout the conference.
1. Crisis Flow
Our crisis will follow a more simplified timeline of the Operation Varsity Blues around
the beginning of 2019. However, delegates should be noted that crisis committees

are a lot more dynamic and interactive than traditional ones, meaning that the crisis
plot points will be choice-based and consequential to delegates’ decision-making.
From Dais
a. Crisis Update
As the main element of storytelling, Crisis Update from your CDs will synthesize the
chronological events of the crisis and the individual delegate arcs to set the action
course of the committee. Crisis updates can interject the formal flow of debate given
its disruptiveness and can take many forms from a simple statement, news article, or
video to even real-life acting out of the actual crisis points.
b. Press Corps Release
As an extension of the communication device from the crisis staff, articles from the
Press Corps Room will act as an update on not just the advancement of a crisis plotlines
but also a real-time, after-the-fact updates on the overall committee’s standpoint and
individual delegate actions through their performance and their use of Directive thus
far.
From Delegates
These tools are important communication mediums for delegates to take individual
action to resolve the unfolding crises and yield more sociopolitical influence or prestige
for themselves.
a. Media Release
As representatives of the U.S.’s most reputable institutions, delegates are expected
to develop strong ethical relationships and transparency through social responsibility
practices to fulfill corporate goals, and maintain reputation, and trust in their
stakeholders. Under the arising circumstances of this committee’s crisis, delegates are
expected to draft prompt media responses to elaborate their involvement, spread
possible misinformation or ‘lying press’, and address the “who”, “what,” “why,” and
“where” of the situation.
Often, effective press releases can influence public opinion by fanning the flames of a
scandal, diverting attention from away or towards something, or encouraging certain
parties to get involved in the crisis
Most press releases should be succinct with easy-to-understand language as it is meant
to address the public, not formal institutions like the United Nations, United States
Congress, or so on.
● Main components of a Media Release:
1. A Header stating that it is a Media Release/ Press Release/ Press Statement
2. A compelling headline with specific, descriptive action verbs
3. One to three paragraphs detailing the news you want to convey to the
press/public. You can add quotes relevant to the situation
4. Signature from your media representative

● Example
PRESS STATEMENT
25.06.19
University of S-COM Offers ‘Pathway to Education’ for Ukrainian refugees
CHICAGO – Chairman Olivia Wellington made comments addressing Russia’s

recent invasion of Ukraine and the devastating effect that it has inflicted upon
the educational prospects of university students in Ukraine. ‘The University of
S-COM envisions itself as a community that welcomes, supports, and uplifts
individuals whose passion for education prevails above all else.” said Wellington.
“The invasion robs deserving students of opportunities they have earned to gain
an education, and we are proud to offer Ukrainian students with education
pathways so they can have a sense of security in these unprecedented times”
To ensure easy access to our programs, we will grant full scholarships with no extra
tuition and enrollment fees for bachelor’s, master and Ph.D. degree programs at
UoS-COM. Students can find out more about our pathway program here.
b. Policy Directive
Also known as crisis directives, policy directives are shorter, more goal-specific resolutions
that are sent to, processed, approved, or denied by the crisis staff. After receiving
a new crisis update, delegates can enter ad hoc moderated debate over the issue
while drafting relevant directives and media releases in response to the crisis at hand.
To earn the best approval rate on your directives, delegates are advised to write
directives in a clear, concise, and informative manner. Similar to media releases, the
objectives of your policy directive are to preserve your committee’s best interest and
further your personal/cabinet’s goals. Delegates can develop a step-by-step course of
actions to chart via relevant use of media releases/directives given your portfolio and
involvement in the crisis’s plot.
Types of Directive, including but not limited to:

1. Information Request
2. Correspondence with external characters
3. Deals/Negotiations
4. Espionage activities
Directives can be collective or individual requests
1. Personal Directives are directive correspondence between you and the crisis
staff alone. Third parties can however gain knowledge of your actions through
successful use of espionage/spy
2. Joint Directives are submitted given the approval of multiple parties in the
committee. Often written by one representative delegate, joint directives are
used by delegates who are mutually implicated or united in resolving a crisis
issue.

3. Committee (Cabinet) Directives are large-scale directives approved by the
entire committee to serve its goals. Since S-COM only has one cabinet, this will
also be referred to as a Committee Directive.
● Main components of a Policy Directive:

1. A memorable title as an attention grabber
2. Title of your Addressees
3. Detailed course of actions you would like to see undertaken and its timeline
4. Your outline of expectations for the result
5. Signature with your title
● Example:
Joint Directive: Operation Lockdown

United Nations Security Council
Signed: United States, Dominican Republic, Germany, France,
In reaction to the current military hostilities in the Central African Republic (CAR),
the United States along with its allies is determined to take the following measures:
Carries out direct espionage activities to pinpoint non-State armed groups

including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, and the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA)
Works closely with the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) to
develop a sub-committee for overseeing peacekeeping missions to address the
deteriorating civilian security and pressing humanitarian needs.
Urges funding from UN bodies and higher financial institutions like IMF, World Bank
Group, and World Trade Organization.
2. Draft Resolution
Beside writing media releases and directives to respond to the crisis flow, delegates
of this council will also need to work towards some final resolutions. As these scandals
are notorious and complicated, universities need to cooperate and come up with
consistent resolutions in order to better the quality of tertiary education in the U.S. Dele-
gates will only process Draft Resolutions during the last two sessions of the conference.
Formatting can resemble normal Draft Resolutions in General Assembly committees;
however, due to the special nature of this council, formatting can be flexible. Pream-
bulatory and operative clauses do not necessarily have to start with verbs and end
with commas, semi-colons, and periods in the similar way to a normal Draft Resolution.
3. Committee Structure
As mentioned before, S-COM will be a structural combination between a General
Assembly and Crisis Council where delegates still debate on both the basis of drafting
a final Draft Resolution and ad-hoc discussions following crisis updates from the Crisis
Staff and press releases from the Press Corps. Responses from delegates are made in
the form of schools’ official statements and policy directives.
● Rights and Responsibilities of Universities
According to the 1915 “Declaration of Principles” by the American Association

of University Professors (AAUP), the roles of colleges, and universities are to provide
access to existing knowledge, encourage inquiry and advance the frontier of human

knowledge, to provide a vision for learning to students as they gradually turn into
experts themselves for various fields of study and branches of the public service.
Correspondingly, faculty members from higher institutions are responsible for undertaking
further academic research and service roles on their respective campuses. They
are tasked with the important role of generating and disseminating knowledge and
relevant findings to peers, students, and the general public. The corporate strategies,
authority, and functions of a university’s collective faculty largely rely on the institution
type, reputation, history, and traditions, as well as relevant formal codifications.
However, as a rendition from the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the
term University Social Responsibility (USR) is more frequently used in recent studies as
a way of ascertaining the imperative need for universities to integrate specific social
responsibility initiatives into their administrative proceedings and general operation
management in fulfilling their ethical and moral responsibilities as a higher education
institution (HEIs). Stakeholder involvement strategies, especially with its attending
university students, their parents, and community media, like community development
programs, civic and public engagement, and relevant campus campaigns are integral
in upkeeping university social stakeholdership and reputation.
● Specialized Committee Outcome Expectations
1. Identify all the implicated personnel and affiliated parties involved in the 2019
college admission scandals and Operations Varsity Blues.
2. Effective cooperation between collective faculty members and representatives

of leading U.S HEIs to eliminate all the arising crises through the appropriate use
of policy directives, and media releases.
3. Bring in mutual agreements that prevent future scandals from evolving.
4. Work in unison to write official Draft Resolutions to put forward administrative,

structural changes, and policy updates to fix the underlying loopholes that act as
a pull factor for illegal bribery and cheating in U.S colleges.

CORE ISSUES
THROUGH
SCANDALS
EXPLORATION
1. Bribery/Legacy in Admissions
Prestigious universities within the United States are well known for their notoriously low,
single-digit acceptance rates, in which prospective teens around the world submit their
applications, hoping to be in the 6% pool of applicants chosen. Among other things,
the low accessibility to the ever-increasing demand for elite education emphasized
by these universities increases attraction from applicants all over the world. However,
under the seemingly stringent and rigorous admissions process, there exist illegal
practices, and back-door corridors to enter these universities. Bribery is the practice of
giving money or things of value in order to convince a target to do something, and in
this context would be allowing students to either give them an advantage or bypass
the university’s admissions process altogether.
The reader may be familiar with the case of “Operation Varsity Blues” in 2019. Wealthy
families paid large sums of money to ringleader William Rick Singer in order to rig the
college admissions process in their favor. Initially, Mr. Singer worked as a university
counselor at an institution he founded called “Future Stars”. However, the root of
the problems came from his need to “increase income”. As we will explore later, his
operation tackles many aspects of the college admissions process, from standardized
testing (SAT & ACT) to downright manipulation of admissions officers via bribes.
Cases Studies
Two of the most notable forms of bribery in exchange for prestige college admissions
are fake athlete submissions as seen in Operation Varsity Blues and cheating college
Entrance Exams SAT/ACT in the 2019 case of SAT Proctor Bribery.
Operation Varsity Blues
In March 2019, federal prosecutors implicated more than 50 well-heeled parents,

including high-ranking CEOs, two Hollywood actresses among other affluent figures
in a criminal conspiracy to illegally influence undergraduate admissions to prestigious
HEIs in the United States. As of February 2021, 30 accused parents have pleaded guilty
to the charges while 9 pleaded not guilty.

University and Athletic Personnels Involvement
University Accused Personnel Details

Georgetown Gordon “Gordie” Involved in a bribery scheme of
University Ernst $2.7 mil with a California non-profit
program, Key World Foundation,
to facilitate admissions by creating
counterfeit athlete credentials
of 12 students as recruits for the
Georgetown tennis team
⇒ Asset forfeiture of $3.4 million plus

$276,000 in lieu of his Massachusetts
house
Stanford University John Vandemoer Former sailing coach pleaded

guilty to charges of racketeering
conspiracy after working with
William Rick Singer to admit two
students as competitive sailors to
the Stanford sailing program.
⇒ Six months of house arrest,

$10,000 fine and two years of
supervised release.
University of Jorge Salcedo Former UCLA men soccer coach

California, Los pleaded guilty to corruption
Angeles (UCLA) charges for falsifying athlete profiles
and test scores
⇒ Asset forfeiture of $200,000, eight

months of imprisonment, and 1 year
of supervised release
University of Lamont Smith Pleaded guilty to bribery scheme in
California, San Diego facilitating fake athlete recruitment
(UCSD) to his USD men’s basketball team
⇒ Asset forfeiture of $245,000,

$95,000 fine, 3 months in prison, 3
months of home confinement, 250
hours of community service.

Ali Khosroshahin Head women’s soccer coach
at USC pleaded guilty to getting
wealthy children into colleges as
student athletes for a few thousand
University of Southern
dollars.
California (USC)
Donna Heinel Former athletic director pleaded
guilty to fraud charges, accepting
more than $1.3 million of bribery
money.
⇒ Asset forfeiture of $160,000.

Signed a plea deal to accept a
sentence of up to 46 months
Jovan Vavic Former waterpolo head coach at
USC was found guilty by a jury for
taking more than $200,000 in bribes
in order to falsify athletic records,
giving students advantage into
entering schools.
Laura Janke Assistant women’s soccer coach
at USC pleaded to charges of
conspiracy to commit racketeering.
Singer
University of Texas at Michael Center A former UT tennis coach who
Austin (UT Austin) pleaded guilty for sponsoring a
“recruit” who was not a tennis
player in the first place. Took
$100,000 dollars in “earnings” via
this method.
Wake Forest University William “Bill” A former volleyball coach who was
Ferguson recruiting other coaches to follow
in Singher’s scheme. Got off with a
$50,000 fine and other behavioral
conditions
Yale University Rudolph “Rudy” A former Women’s football coach
Meredith who has been found guilty for
recruiting wealthy students as
“recruits”. He has accepted up to
$860,000 in bribes from 2015 - 2018.
Almost all of these funds have been
forfeited to the government.

SAT Bribery
The SATs have become one of the most essential factors in deciding admission for any
student, owing to the standardization of the test so that students from different schools
can be compared on the same scale. Because of its significance, some individuals or
groups have taken it upon their hands to try to succeed by any means possible. What
will be explored below is that Rick Singer along with his associates have used outside
assistance to bump up test scores, as well as other incidents involving the proctors
themselves.
Personnel Details1 2
Igor Dvorisky He is a former SAT/ACT proctor who has been accused
of racketeering charges, being involved in Rick Singer’s
Operation Varsity Blues. The proctor, administering
tests at a Los Angeles school, has allowed for cheating
within the college entrance exam. Students which were
involved were asked to pay $10,000 to the proctor so
that he can allow cheating. He has earned a total of
almost $200,000 for 20 students involved in this scandal.
This comes in a few forms:
- Allowing Mark Riddell, who is 36, and a Harvard

graduate, to take the test on behalf of the
applicant
- Replacing answer papers with Mark Riddell’s

answer sheet instead
He now faces 20 years in prison if found guilty for these

charges.
Mark Riddell Mark Riddell is a Harvard Graduate, who has been
involved in numerous test-taking scandals, one of which
is being involved in the infamous Operation Varsity
Blues. This person has been paid in order to take exams
on behalf of applicants.
After the incident, he was handed a 4-month prison

sentence and two more years of “supervised release”,
and had to pay up to $240,000 to the government.
1
Nathan Klima, ‘Former SAT/ACT Test Administrator Pleads Guilty in College Admissions Scandal’, NBC
News, 14 November 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-sat-act-test-administrator-
pleads-guilty-college-admissions-scandal-n1081196.
2
Charles Krupa, ‘A College Exam Taker Gets Prison and a Coach Is Convicted in the Admissions Scam’,
NPR, 9 April 2022, sec. National, https://www.npr.org/2022/04/09/1091862034/college-admissions-scam-
conviction-coach.

Legacy Admissions
Legacy admissions is when colleges admit students whose family have been alumni
of the school, or somehow related to the school. Under the standards of meritocracy,
this system may fall into many pitfalls, as it gives a straight advantage to those who
benefit from legacy admissions compared to those who do not. A study of 30 elite
colleges illustrated this fact: students are 45% more likely to be admitted if they are a
primary legacy (those with parents who are alumni of the school) compared to those
who are not. For secondary legacies (siblings, and other relatives), they are 15% more
likely to be admitted.3 4 Just having a family member can give applicants a significant
edge over other non-legacy applicants, giving them a possibility to surpass even the
most qualified of applicants into elite schools. Colleges say that they want to keep a
tradition within their school, acknowledging those who have “laid the foundations for
the development of their university.”5 However, is that the only reason though?
We will explore later that it is not localized to one school, but it has been a
phenomenon for many schools, especially elite universities such as the Ivy League. The
core reasons why they would admit legacies are much further than just “keeping a
tradition”. Firstly, students who are legacies get admitted because it is a good, stable
source of income - in the form of alumni/legacy donations.6 According to Andrea Bian,
a student from Northwestern University, she figured that many legacies are probably
Americans who are wealthy, which gives them an advantage over the process.
Compared to Northwestern’s advertized 6% acceptance rate, those who are legacies
have seen an acceptance rate of 33%, 5 times more than the regular applicant.7 This
undermines a lot of the universities statements that they admit the best of the best
in the country. This is a problem which also relates to the disproportionate groups in
different economic situations. Minorities definitely do not benefit from this system even
if they work hard.
3
Dave Bergman, ‘Does Being a “Legacy” Increase Your Admission Odds?’, College Transitions, 31
January 2022, https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/college-legacy/.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Daniel Gross, ‘How Elite US Schools Give Preference to Wealthy and White “legacy” Applicants’, The
Guardian, 23 January 2019, sec. US news, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/23/elite-
schools-ivy-league-legacy-admissions-harvard-wealthier-whiter.
7
Ibid.

2. Sexual Harassment & Assault
a. Sexual harassment, and its frequent occurance in US
Universities
Sexual harassment and assult is a familiar topic for virtually everyone, especially
among the age group where students attend universities. With the recent return
of offline learning after around 2 years of online learning, it is predicted that
more students will be vulnerable to sexual harassment. In a 2019 survey by the
Association of American Universities, 13% of university students - from a pool of
182,000 undergraduate and graduate students - have reported nonconsensual
sexual contact.8 Reasons may include the ability of not being able to consent (being
intoxicated, unconsciousness, etc.), as well as forced physical assault by the other
party. The figure above include female undergraduates (25.9%), and among gay,
trangender, non-binary students as well (22.8%).9 This is to be expected with the high
amount of students trying to conform, or pressured into drinking and partying, especially
due to the lifting of COVID restrictions.
However, during this same time, it is observed that awareness on these issues have
increased significantly. With the advent of the #MeToo movement - a movement which
raises awareness of worldwide sexual harassment as well as bringing together victims
of said assult10 - students have stood together to call upon universities to take action,
and keep aggressors accountable. A wave of protests are seen across US universities,
raising awareness of sexual harassment in their own school. In September 2021, a
protest staged by more than 100 students at Virginia Tech University had occurred,
to emphasize the urgency for action by the university. An alarming increase of sexual
harassment cases in university gatherings as well as sports events have been the main
cause driving this protest.11 Furthermore, cases have been reported within fraternities,
where young women have been allegedly assaulted. The raise in awareness had
allowed hundreds of students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to protest over many
nights.12 Due to this massive increase, we have seen more students standing up to fight
for these causes.
However, there is another subset of sexual harassment that should be taken into clear
consideration, student-staff harassment. These kinds of harassment seem to be much
more obscure than student-student harassment cases. With their highly regarded
position within the universities, cases of professors more often than not slip under the
radar. However, why would this be the case?
b. Why has that been the case? What are the stopping
solutions?
8
Charlott Huff, “A crisis of campus sexual assault,” American Psychological Association 53, no. 3 (April
2022), https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/04/news-campus-sexual-assault.
9
Ibid.
10
Sherri Gordon, ‘What Is the Me Too Movement All About?’, Verywell Mind, 24 April 2022, sec. Verywell,
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-metoo-movement-4774817.
11
Yann Ranaivo, ‘Activists Call for Changes to Address Sexual Violence at Virginia Tech’, Roanoke Times,
28 September 2021, https://roanoke.com/news/local/education/activists-call-for-changes-to-address-
sexual-violence-at-virginia-tech/article_e84c2f94-20b7-11ec-abd6-cb69a91c3251.html.
12
Aaron Bonderson, ‘Thousands Protest For Third Straight Night at UNL, Pleading for Change Following
Sexual Assault Allegation’, Nebraska Public Media, 28 August 2021, https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/
en/news/news-articles/thousands-protest-for-third-straight-night-at-unl-pleading-for-change-following-
sexual-assault-allegation/.

Among student-student cases, there are a few reasons attributing to the increased
number of cases, as well as response (or lack thereof) against these cases. Firstly, the
use of intoxicating drugs, such as alcohol have been linked to a higher probability of
sexual assult and harassment.13 When a student is intoxicated, or passed out, they lack
the proper ability to consent to any sexual actions. With one of the definitions of sexual
assult being “unwanted sexual contact”, the use of excessive alcohol does count as
one of the reasons contributing to this matter. Another reason for this occurrence is the
lack of awareness of sexual harassment: some people do not even recognize when
certain actions are harassment, which leads to a culture of ignorance and these cases
would not even come to light. For many universities, the only form of awareness that
has been given is through their “orientation” program at the start, which is only around
30 mins.14 This is alarming, as this is inadequate to promote a culture of safety around
school consistently across the 4+ years that these students have to go through.
However, student-professor harassment causes go beyond the causes above, in which

students are usually disadvantaged when dealing with harassment. Sadly, many
professors have opted to create a very hostile learning environment for students, and
get away with these claims since they are loyal and valuable to the school. Professors
have a lot of power to influence academic records, and conversely, their future
career prospects. This creates an imbalanced power dynamic, when the student is
so dependent on the professor and therefore does not have the will to talk against
them.15 The fear of retaliation from the professors discourages students from reporting
the incident. On the individual level, this builds a culture of silencing, stopping any
further progress on combating the issue at hand.
Progress on these issues have also been somewhat slow. Even with the #MeToo
movement and the numerous feminist/LGTBQ+ policies adopted by universities, there
still exist a rather ineffective way of dealing with these issues on the institutional level.
This is due to many things, one of them being the power that a certain professor have
over certain research areas and students. Even if evidence was enough to back up
the fact that the professor has violated such actions, there is still the fact that this
professor may have provided funding for research within universities. Terminating said
professor worsens the problem for those involved in his research.16 The element of bias is
introduced into the decision-making process because of this, and many more reasons
which affect the university as a whole. Also, when professors are well known within
their institution/field, this further discourages the school from taking any action toward
them. If reports of sexual harassment from a certain school gets public, the school
faces a few repercussions, as well as the damaging of their brand. Therefore schools
opt to keep these cases as silent as possible, and try to deal with it in the way that most
favors the school’s reputation. With this power imbalance within the school, it seems
like these policies or biases aim to protect the university’s image instead of the student
themselves.
13
Martha Nussbaum, ‘Thoughts about Sexual Assault on College Campuses’, Brookings, 21 October 2021,
https://www.brookings.edu/research/thoughts-about-sexual-assault-on-college-campuses/.
14
Ibid.
15
Sarah Young and Kimberly Wiley, ‘Erased: Why Faculty Sexual Misconduct Is Prevalent and How We
Could Prevent It’, Journal of Public Affairs Education 27, no. 3 (3 July 2021): 276–300, doi:10.1080/15236
803.2021.1877983.
16
Ibid.

c. Cases Studies
Personnel Involved Details
Matthew Harris in Duke, Besides the fact that he was jailed for threatening UCLA
Cornell, UCLA via an 800-page document, he was also accused within
Cornell and Duke for inappropriate behavior.
This includes actions such as but not limited to:
- Sending excessive emails to students
- Sending excessive text messages which can be

considered cyber-harassment
- Learning the schedule and morning routine of

a student, and then creepily waiting for them,
sending text messages such as, “I’m here, where
are you?”17
He has been held in custody with the Federal

Government without bail.
Dartmouth Professors Darthmouth professors have been accused for rape
and sexual harassment. These professors are part of the
Department of Psychological Science, who have caused
Dartmouth to settle this with $14 million out-of-court.
These professors have conducted acts of sexual

harassment against 9 graduate students, including:
groping, non-consensual touching, as well as coercing
the victims into intoxicating themselves via alcohol.
The three former professors: Todd Heatherton, William

Kelley, and Paul Whalen have all been told to
permanently leave the campus without returning.18
17
Stefanie Dazio, ‘Red Flags Trailed Ex-UCLA Lecturer across Elite Universities’, AP NEWS, 8 February 2022,
sec. Weekend Reads, https://apnews.com/article/ucla-threats-matthew-harris-ab139c76790058ccb3bb
a0cb7b5feda8.
18
Madeleine Thompson, ‘Dartmouth Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit for $14 Million’, CNN, 7 August
2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/06/us/dartmouth-settles-harassment-lawsuit/index.html.

3. Racism in institutions
In admissions, there have been many cases of schools demonstrating racism. Although
the lawsuit of Brown v. Board of Education in the 20th century allowed for reforms,
systematic racism has still been present in this process. Not many people have realized
how the system in itself have favored people in different wealth classes, which directly
relate to racism as a result of years of systemic discrimination. This is no more apparent
than in Ivy League admissions, where the wealthy are much more favored than those
living in high-poverty areas. In University of Pennsylvania, one of the Ivy League schools,
it has a lot more students admitted from the top 1% of household wealth compared to
the population of the bottom 60% of household wealth in school.19 This encourages
elitism within the school, which is a further cause for further discrimination within the
university’s premises. With a system that has been notorious for inequality, any socio-
economic difference plays a significant role in deciding whether you will get into elite
universities or not.
It should be noted that schools already have adopted an “Affirmative Action” policy in
admissions, which have benefited people of color in the long run. According to Shafer
from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, those who benefited from Affirmative
Action did much better academically long-term compared to their peers in low-status
universities.20 This is especially true for black students. Therefore, some may say that
this fixes the problem of racism in universities. However, a scandal on Harvard itself
has proven otherwise. It is a scandal where it may bring the question to the reader:
“Has affirmative action done enough to not discriminate against all minorities, all in the
meanwhile keeping up the culture of meritocracy?”
Case Studies
Students for Fair Admissions v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College
According to anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, Harvard discriminates
against Asian-Americans within their admissions process, hoping to turn the admissions
process race-neutral by hiding the race of applicants in their application review.
Within the original complaint, SFFA claimed that there is a case where Harvard had
discriminated against an Asian-American student who had ‘outstanding’ stats and
ECs, as well as other test scores which should have given them a good chance to
be admitted into Harvard. In the end, the ruling still went in favor for Harvard, but the
decision is being appealed by SFFA
Manipulation of the US College

Ranking Systems
a. The significance of the college ranking system
One of the biggest indicators of how successful a post-secondary institution is is through
rankings. The reader may be familiar with US News’ “2022 Best Colleges Ranking”,
being one of the most popular sources for university research. In fact, according to
an article by Best College Values, written by Jeremy Alder, surveys illustrated that 66%
19
Urooba Abid, ‘Ivy League Admissions Are Structurally Racist’, 7 September 2020, https://www.thedp.
com/article/2020/07/ivy-league-admissions-structurally-racist-penn-feeder-schools.
20
Leah Shafer, ‘The Case for Affirmative Action’, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 11 July 2018,
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/07/case-affirmative-action.

of students use the US News’ college ranking to make decisions on which colleges to
attend.21 The reasons behind this are many. Some attribute high rankings to high quality
of education, or how highly-ranked institutions are prestigious, boosting the social status
of individuals. College rankings are also used to compare different universities, among
different majors, etc. Competitiveness is demonstrated when a ranking is used, and
this affects the amount of people who apply to schools.22 This system is also one of the
easiest to access, and due to that, students and parents alike do not utilize resources
such as college visits, alumni services, and college advising in their respective high
schools. With a process which is relatively long and hard, it is no surprise that people use
rankings as a significant indicator - cost-effective, time-effective, etc.23
Clearly, universities who are at the top of the rankings hugely benefit, as the rankings
drive large amounts of interest towards their school, and potentially drive more revenue
because of this fact. With schools becoming ever more competitive, the ranking system
has benefited many schools. This can be seen among the schools in the Top 25 of the
US News National Ranking. Schools within that range have reported a consistent 6% -
10% increase in application numbers among the year.4 Driving up application number
only lowers admissions rate - an increased demand for a very limited number of seats
in the university. However, the ranking’s influence does not stop at increasing numbers
toward the school. Rankings influence a school’s sphere of influence across the globe,
which not only reaches out to prospective students, but also to investors. A higher
ranking means a relative indicator of success from a business standpoint - most post-
secondary institutions in the US are considered businesses.24 The sphere of influence
and increased value of the university’s brand due to its hierarchy attracts investors into
investing into their school (in forms of donations). These are the reasons why so many
universities long to be on top of this ranking system.
b. Factors deciding rankings - how they can be manipulated
Understanding how university’s rankings are decided can give a better sense of how
they can be manipulated, as well as giving the reader an insight to why certain rankings
are more trustworthy than others. The US News rankings are considered one of the
most trustworthy sources for many applicants due to its seemingly non-biased nature,
third-party and independently reviewed research, and a holistic view of the institutions
covered. Its methodology of ranking uses 17 measures of academic quality, covering
a wide expanse of 1,466 US institutions.25 Additionally, other measures which contribute
to a school’s ranking may include data such as student-faculty ratio, federal loan
debt, and many other factors. This information is collected via independent research
(anonymous surveys) and third-party sources, which are “thoroughly examined” by
US News themselves to give the most valid, reliable, and unbiased data possible.26
However, information reported by schools have also been taken into consideration,
such as demographics of a student body, tuition fees, earnings data. This usually is
posted on the institution’s page, which can be easily accessed.27 Knowing this,
investigation has shown that these institutions have gamed the system to climb the
rankings, giving them an edge over other universities when they should have been
ranked much lower according to the criteria set out by US News.
21
Jeremy Adler, “How Important are College Rankings?, Best College Values, accessed May 28, 2022
https://www.bestcollegevalues.com/how-important-are-college-rankings/#:~:text=The%20reason%20
why%20students%20find,college%20 different%20from%20the%20others.
22
Ibid.
23
Elenor Barkhorn, “College Rankings Really Do Influence Which Schools Students Apply To”, The Atlantic,
published January 18, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/01/college-rankings-
really-do-influence-which-schools-students-apply-to/283151/
24
Ibid.
25
Robert Morse and Eric Brooks, ‘How U.S. News Calculated the 2022 Best Colleges Rankings’, U.S. News
& World Report, 12 September 2021, sec. Education, https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/
articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings.
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid.

c. Case Studies
Institution Rank28 Case Study 29,30
Columbia 2 According to tenured math professor Dr. Michael Thaddeus,
University the university’s rise from 18th place (1988) to 2nd place (2022), is
already a reasonable cause for suspicion of “data manipulation”
within the data collected by US World News. He reports
discrepancies between said data and data that the university
reported elsewhere, in which it favors Columbia University in their US
World News Ranking placement.
Data manipulated/speculated to be false:
1. Class Sizes - Columbia reports to US World News, which is
shown on the website, that around 82.5% of undergraduate
classes have less than 20 students, while only 8.9% of them
have more than 50 students. However, there is doubt to the
elsewhere. Unlike other Ivy League universities, Columbia
does not report a Common Data Set showing its statistics.
Therefore, after completing a census within undergraduate
classes, using the methods outlined by the Common Data
Set Act for measuring class sizes, it is shown that only around
62%-67% of classes have less than 20 students, a far cry from
what the university has published to US World News.
2. Student-Faculty Ratio - Reports a 6:1 student-faculty ratio,
consistent since 2008 when this data is released. However,
according to Dr. Thaddeus, this figure should be closer to
a 11:1 student-faculty ratio. This figure is obtained as Dr.
Thaddeus followed the same exact methodology outlined
by the US Government. Eventually, what was found out that
the university bent the rules such that only undergraduate
enrollment during the reporting in 2008. This was contrary
to the guidelines given by the government, where it had to
include graduate students into the mix as well.
3. First-year retention + Graduation rates - One of the biggest
measures of success of universities is their graduation rates,
which show the academic quality. They reported a 96%
graduation rate, a massive figure for any university. This
figure takes up a weighting of almost 22.6% on the criteria
used for ranking in the US World News ranking. However, this
figure puts it up towards Harvard and Princeton - a cause for
doubt. It was eventually found out that this figure excluded
transfer undergraduates, in which it makes up 30% of
incoming undergraduates. Sadly, this population of students
have fared less well than those who did not transfer, with
85% of that population of students graduating compared to
Columbia’s alleged 96%.
More factors have been discovered to have bent the rules in terms
of data reporting standards set out by US News. The readers may
look at the full report stated in the footnotes.
‘2022 Best National Universities | US News Rankings’, U.S. News & World Report, 2021, https://
28
www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities.
29
Thaddeus, ‘An Investigation of the Facts Behind Columbia’s U.S. News Ranking’, Department of
Mathematics - Colombia University, March 2022, http://www.math.columbia.edu/~thaddeus/ranking/
investigation.html.
30
Anemona Hartocollis, ‘U.S. News Ranked Columbia No. 2, but a Math Professor Has His Doubts’,
The New York Times, 17 March 2022, sec. U.S., https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/us/columbia-
university-rank.html.

PAST ACTIONS AND
POSSIBLE
SOLUTIONS
1. Resolving and preventing future
“Operation Varsity Blues”
a. The origin of OVB: NCAA’s exception
Operation Varsity Blues (OVB), as elaborated above, has been the most notorious
admission scandal of U.S. universities. It represents the celebrity ties to university admission
and illustrates the involvement of university athletics departments and employees.
Athletics admission is associated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA)—not only does this governing body host intercollegiate tournaments and
championships but it also drafts legislations for universities to follow and coordinate the
admission of athlete students.31 However, universities reserve the right to choose which
regulations to uphold.32 The philosophy behind admitting athlete students is that their
academic achievements can be less rigorous than their counterparts due to their time
and dedication for sports participation. Many families, counseling companies, and
even universities have taken advantage of this legislation to admit athlete students not
because of their sports talent, academic capability, or leadership but their parents’
bribery or “donations”. However, there is a specific exception of NCAA asserting that
an administrative senior of the university can offer admission to athlete students who
do not satisfy academic requirements according to the college’s annual common
data set yet showcase great potential to succeed at the university.33
b. Criminal charges and sentencing

Stakeholders who were involved in the OVB received a wide range of criminal charges
but most of them have yet to be sentenced. The government recommends a sentence
for Singer including “incarceration at the low end of sentencing guidelines and three
years of supervised release.” While Meredith was expected to receive sentencing
leniency, Vandemoer was sentenced to a day in prison by a federal judge. Center was
charged with a six-month prison sentence, a year of supervised release, and forfeiture
of $60,000.34 The court brought in verdicts of the same scale to other related individuals.
c. Some comprehensive frameworks of resolutions:

31
“What is the NCAA?,” NCAA.org, accessed May 25, 2022, https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/2/10/
about-resources-media-center-ncaa-101-what-ncaa.aspx.
32
Ibid.
33
2019-20 NCAA Division I Manual (2019), 163-164, https://www.ncaapublications.com/
productdownloads/D120.pdf.
34
Criminal No. 19-CR-10081, (United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, n.d), https://www.
justice.gov/file/1142881/download.

● RICO
The federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) became law
in 1970, putting the power in the hands of prosecutors to handle organized crime. RICO
helps the court assemble criminal activities of individual offenders to streamline the trial
process.35 The Department of Justice (DOJ) also employed RICO to disrupt large-scale
conspiracies; in March 2019, many involved individuals of the OVB were charged by
prosecutors with violating RICO.36 OVB is a scandal instigated by the collaboration of
multiple individuals and organizations: from wealthy celebrity parents and university
admission counselors to employees of athletics department and staff from test centers.
Hence, it might sound plausible for the framework of RICO to be adopted; nonetheless,
RICO often refers to mob riots, murders, smuggling, etc. Thus some law scholars believe
charging OVB defendants with breaching RICO might be much of a heavy verdict.37
Representatives of schools in this committee should thoroughly consider the application
of RICO into crafting draft resolutions or directives due to its narrow scope.
● State actions
California lawmakers, after witnessing the serious extent of such a scandal, decided to
release the College Admissions Reform package to minimize loopholes in the college
admission process, including three main resolutions:38
- AB 697: This legislation requires universities of the California State University system
to submit annual reports delineating admission of applications who possess
special relationships with donors or alumni.39 Statistics and thorough information
are given about specific cases of admitted athlete students who do not meet
standard academic requirements of the institutions.40
- AB 1383: This bill requires at least three senior campus administrators to approve
admission of applicants based on NCAA’s exception. It also forces admitted
applicants to participate in the athletics program for at least one academic year
in order to guarantee admission fairness; however, the bill has never penalized
any non-conforming students.41 It does not also prevent coaches from “assisting
students to obtain side door admissions.”42
- AB 1312: This bill is created to regulate the business of college admission

counseling, in which an oversight mechanism was provided to hinder consultants
from doing everything from A to Z for wealthy applicants and receiving thousands
to hundreds of thousand dollars.43 If not rigorously monitored, this business will
widen the wealth gap, enabling unqualified yet well-off students to take the
space of more well-deserved applicants.
35
John R. Mitchell et al., “Beyond the Mob,” Criminal Justice; Chicago 34, no. 3 (n.d.).
36
Joey Garrison, “Coaches in College Admissions Scam Call Charges an ‘unprecedented’ Overreach
of Mafia Law,” USA TODAY, last modified October 17, 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/
nation/2019/10/17/coaches-athletics-officials-want-college-admissions-case-dismissed/3995739002/.
37
Ibid.
38
Alexandra Feldman, “California Legislature to Increase Oversight of College Admissions,” The Daily
Californian, last modified January 15, 2020, https://www.dailycal.org/2020/01/08/california-legislature-to-
increase-oversight-of-college-admissions/.
39
Assembly Bill 697, (2019 California State, 2019), http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient/.
40
Ibid.
41
Larry Gordon, “Push for Tougher Laws Wanes Following California Admissions Scandal,” EdSource,
last modified September 13, 2019, https://edsource.org/2019/push-for-tougher-laws-wanes-following-
california-admissions-scandal/617441.
42
Joshua Lens, “Operation Varsity Blues and the NCAA’s Special Admission Exception,” Journal of Legal
Aspects of Sport 31, no. 1 (2021): 192, doi:10.18060/24923.
43
Gordon, “California Admissions Scandal.”

● NCAA Penalties
NCAA, as one of the leading associations and also a heavily involved stakeholder in this
scandal, should impose some punishments to the offenders. At NCAA, the Enforcement
Staff is in charge of investigating potential violations of NCAA legislations and alleging
universities, athlete students, and employees.44 Then the Division I Committee on
Infractions (COI) is an “independent administrative body that considers cases in which
the Enforcement Staff alleges that NCAA member universities, employees, and student
athletes violated NCAA rules.”45 The COI also has the jurisdiction to determine rule
violations and design corresponding penalties. “Negotiated Resolution” is a measure
in which the Enforcement Staff cooperates with universities and related individuals to
submit a report to the COI.46 During the period of 2013 and 2015, Jerome Allen, University
of Pennsylvania’s head men’s basketball coach, received $250,000 from a prospective
student’s father to increase his admission chances via athletics methods. Regarding
the infraction process, the Enforcement Staff and UPenn recommended a penalty
of 15-year show cause for Allen, which was approved by the COI. This punishment
resulted in putting Allen’s future in the employment blacklist and prevented him from
being recruited. UPenn also faced multiple penalties including but not limited to a fine,
two years of probation, and recruiting restrictions for its men’s basketball program47—
this Ivy League university’s reputation was severely damaged.
● Universities’ resolutions
Universities also need to tighten their procedures and renew some policies in order
to hamper similar incidents from taking place in the future. Auditing activities are
enhanced in order to keep record of admission statistics and avoid excessively
exploiting the NCAA exception. Brown University conducted a rigorous review of every
admitted varsity student athlete to minimize allegations of purchasing admission by
donations or bribery.48 University of Virginia prohibits donations from families of student
athletes during the application process; UCLA now does not accept donations from
student athletes’ families until after enrollment.49 50 At Yale University, every student
athlete who receives endorsement by Yale’s coaches must have their application
reviewed by both the admissions and athletics departments. While USC commissions
three senior employees into that monitoring role, Dartmouth uses its sport supervisor
44
Enforcement: Division I Internal Operating Procedures, http://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/
enforcement/D1Enf_EnforceIOP.pdf
45
Division I Committee on Infractions: Internal Operating Procedures, http://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.
com/committees/d1/infraction/D1COI_IOPs.pdf
46
“Division I Infractions Process,” NCAA.org, accessed May 26, 2022, https://www.ncaa.org/
sports/2016/4/19/membership-division-i-infractions-process.aspx.
47
Theodoros Papazekos, “A Year After the Scandal Broke, Penn Athletics Remains Quiet on Jerome
Allen,” The Daily Pennsylvanian | The University of Pennsylvania’s Independent Student News
Organization, last modified July 20, 2019, https://www.thedp.com/article/2019/07/penn-athletics-jerome-
allen-admissions-bribery-scandal-varsity-blues-ncaa-ivy-league-mens-basketball.
48
Lindsay Ellis, “We Asked 20 Elite-College Admissions Deans About the Bribery Scandal. Here’s What They
Said,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, last modified March 18, 2019, https://www.chronicle.com/
article/we-asked-20-elite-college-admissions-deans-about-the-bribery-scandal-heres-what-they-said/.
49
Scott Jaschick, “Has Admissions Changed Since the Scandal?,” Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education
News, Career Advice, Jobs, last modified August 19, 2019, https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/
article/2019/08/19/has-admissions-changed-scandal.
50
Nathan Fenno, “Ex-coach Charged in Admissions Scandal Accuses UCLA of Admitting Unqualified
Athletes,” Los Angeles Times, last modified January 24, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/
story/2020-01-24/soccer-coach-jorge-salcedo-accuses-ucla-admitting-unqualified-athletes.

and athletics executive leadership staff is in charge of that work at Stanford.51 52 53
These universities also conduct audits on a “frequent” basis to check whether these
student athletes enroll on the sports programs to which they were admitted: Dartmouth
does that annually; USC checks twice a year; and Georgetown University investigates
“periodically.”54 55 Additionally, these famous institutions have also taken some actions
targeting coaches: coaches at some colleges have to submit income disclosure form
revealing sources stemming from athletics.56
2. Minimizing purchasing admission via

donations
Donations are critical to increase the endowment of renowned universities—they are
crucial as “rainy days savings”, helping colleges better prepare for economic downturns,
enrollment decline, and other unexpected costs.57 However, donations can also be
a loophole in which wealthy families utilize to buy admissions into elite universities.
In contrast to bribes, donations are completely legal and even much appreciated.
Allowing purchasing admissions via huge donations to become ubiquitous might
reinforce homogeneity in colleges’ student body, contributing to the weakening of the
overall socioeconomic diversity. The Congress funded distinguished private universities
with huge amounts of grants to support low-income students, research opportunities,
and other aspects of the academia world; therefore, they can leverage their power to
prevent unfair admissions – imposing restrictions on their funding.58
The strongest method, however, would probably be the Congress’s taxation power.
Donations to universities, due to its similar nature to philanthropy, are often treated with
tax deductions. Likewise, universities are nominally non-profit educational institutions,
so they benefit from tax-exempt status.59 As a federal response to admission scandals,
the Congress can withhold that status of colleges or tax donations normally like other
taxes. An example of this might come to the case of Bob Jones University, a small
private institution in South Carolina. Seeing the university rejecting applicants who
support interracial marriage, in 1970 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) withheld Bob
Jones’ tax-exempt status.60
Nonetheless, there might be a side effect coming with this remedy: discouraging
potential donors from granting massive amounts of money to universities, which
consequently lower the financial aid packages for impoverished students. Though
51
“Update - Actions to Strengthen Our Ability to Detect and Prevent Admissions Fraud,” Yale University,
Office of the President, last modified October 15, 2020, https://president.yale.edu/president/statements/
update-actions-strengthen-our-ability-detect-and-prevent-admissions-fraud.
52
Andy Thomason, Nell Gluckman, and Lindsay Ellis, “One Year After College-Admissions Scandal, 3
Questions About What (if Anything) Has Changed,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, last modified
March 12, 2020, https://www.chronicle.com/article/one-year-after-college-admissions-scandal-3-
questions-about-what-if-anything-has-changed/.
53
Katie Reilly, “Here’s What’s Changed Since the College Admissions Scandal,” Time, last modified
March 12, 2020, https://time.com/5801167/college-admissions-scandal-changes/.
54
Thomason, “3 Questions.”
55
Reilly, “What’s Changed.”
56
Lens, “Operation Varsity Blues,” 188.
57
Understanding College and University Endowments (Washington, DC: American Council on
Education, 2021), 4-5, https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Understanding-College-and-University-
Endowments.pdf.
58
South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203, (1987), https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/483/203/.
59
Gabrielle Wilson, “The Legal College Admission Scandal: How the Wealthy Purchase College
Admissions to the Nation’s Elite, Private Universities through Donations,” BYU Education & Law Journal
2021, no. 1 (2021): 166-167, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byu_elj/vol2021/iss1/5/.
60
Ibid.

legacy admission is one of the main way to increase donations, it is very likely to further
racial segregation. John Hopkins University, hence, has been determined in eliminating
legacy admissions for the past ten years, claiming that this action has not led to any loss
in donations.61 However, there should still be some more comprehensive and systemic
solutions towards buying admissions.
College Admission Fairness Act (2019) and Fair College Admission for Students Act
(2022): Post Operation Varsity Blues, lawmakers across the country have been making
an effort in combating corruption in the college admission process. College Admission
Fairness Act (2019, abbreviated CAFA) and Fair College Admission for Students Act
(2022, abbreviated FCASA) are the two bills introduced to Congress to address the issue.
The CAFA was sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden, read twice, and was then referred
to the Committee on Finance during the 116th Congress. It suggested prohibiting IHEs
(institutions of higher education) from factoring in personal financial donations during
the screening process for an applicant, as well as tax deductions for said donations.62
The FCASA was recently introduced in February 2022, sponsored by Representative
Jamaal Bowman. It was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.63
By this point, the reader should be aware that there exists an identical bill, sponsored
by Senator Jeff Merkley, which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.64 The bill bears several resemblances to the
CAFA, however, it also calls for the abolishment of legacy admissions, with the possible
exception of a certain group of IHEs, “e.g historically Black colleges and universities or
other minority-serving institutions”.65 The College Admission Fairness Act did not pass the
House, and as the 117th Congress progresses, we will make further observations on the
Fair College Admission for Students Act.
3. Combating sexual harassment and

assault
Sexual Assault - U.S. Department of Education Title IX
Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments is a federal civil rights law that prohibits
sexual discrimination in federally funded schools and/or educational programs.66 The
exclusion of discrimination in education in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act—which
aimed to put an end to discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national
origin in the areas of employment and public accommodation”, caused the creation
of Title IX.67 Referring to sexual harassment, Title IX originally did not recognize sexual
harassment/assault as a form of sex-based discrimination, but this was changed during
the Obama Administration, which brought about more rigorous and thorough guidelines
to on-campus sexual harassment investigations. These changes were included in the
Nell Gluckman, “Johns Hopkins Has Quietly Stopped Giving Children of Alumni Preference in
61
Admissions. Here’s Why,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, last modified January 13, 2020,
https://www.chronicle.com/article/johns-hopkins-has-quietly-stopped-giving-children-of-
alumni-preference-in-admissions-heres-why/.
62
Ron Wyden, S.1732 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): College Admission Fairness Act, (2019), https://www.
congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1732.
63
Jamaal Bowman, H.R.6559 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Fair College Admissions for Students Act,
(2022), https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6559?r=1&s=1.
64
Jeff Merkley, S.3559 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Fair College Admissions for Students Act, (2022),
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3559.
65
Bowman. “Fair College Admissions for Students Act.”
66
“Title IX and Sex Discrimination,” U.S. Department of Education, last modified June 16, 2021, https://
www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html.
67
“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,” National Archives,
last modified April 25, 2018, https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act.

2011 Dear Colleague Letter, stating that schools must use a “preponderance of the
evidence” to determine whether or not the accused is guilty; discouraging the schools
from allowing the two parties to cross-examine each other—coming from a place of
concern for the alleged victim’s mental health.68 However, these amendments were
flipped under the Trump Administration. Then-appointed Secretary of Education Betty
DeVos and the administration itself argued that the law does not protect the accused
students’ rights.69 70 Despite having been called the “Final Rule” during the Trump Era,
now, once again, it is going through changes under President Biden’s term. Means of
protection against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, as
well as rollbacks on several Title IX policies are to be expected in this revision.71
Reconsidering the appropriateness of CSR

Consensual sexual relationships, or CSR, describe the intimate, romantic, or sexual
relationships between individuals of supervising and subordinate role in the collge
environment; for example, professor and student. CSR should be avoided on campus
because either a sense of favoritism might be facilitated or the power differential
between faculty and students might be exploited to make subordinates suffer.72 73 74
CSRs might be appropriate; however, its nature is associated with a host of complexities
where unethical and legal concerns may arise. Hence, policies to prevent CSRs on
campus have grown considerably between 2005 and 2013, almost doubling.75 Ban on
CSRs between management and subordinates is the most popular measure taken.76
However, there is a thread of inconsistency in CSR policies among IHEs: while Yale
implemented a policy prohibiting any type of CSR between faculty and undergraduate
students in 2010, other universities have more lenient restrictions, bringing confusion
toward faculty and students about what to do and not to do.77 78 Whereas Title IX policies
require specific reporting procedures and strong disciplinary actions, vagueness is a
concerning problem of CSRs policies as CSRs cannot be labeled as nonconsensual or
68
“Dear Colleague Letter,” U.S. Department of Education, last modified January 5, 2021, https://www2.
ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201104.html.
69
Taylor Mooney, “How Betsy DeVos Plans to Change the Rules for Handling Sexual Misconduct on
Campus,” CBS News, last modified November 24, 2019, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/title-ix-sexual-
misconduct-on-campus-trump-administration-changing-obama-rules-cbsn-documentary/.
70
“Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal
Financial Assistance,” Federal Register, last modified May 19, 2020, https://www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2020/05/19/2020-10512/nondiscrimination-on-the-basis-of-sex-in-education-programs-or-
activities-receiving-federal.
71
Laura Mekler, “New Title IX Rules Set to Assert Rights of Transgender Students,” The Washington Post,
last modified March 30, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/03/30/transgender-
discrimination-title-ix-rule-students/.
72
Maryka Biaggio, Tana L. Paget, and M. S. Chenoweth, “A model for ethical management of
faculty—student dual relationships,” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 28, no. 2 (1997),
doi:10.1037/0735-7028.28.2.184.
73
Vicki E. Bowman, Lesa D. Hatley, and Robert L. Bowman, “Faculty-Student Relationships:
The Dual Role Controversy,” Counselor Education and Supervision 34, no. 3 (1995),
doi:10.1002/j.1556-6978.1995.tb00245.x.
74
Nicholas Dixon, “The Morality of Intimate Faculty-Student Relationships,” Monist 79, no. 4 (1996),
doi:10.5840/monist199679429.
75
Dana Wilkie, “Forbidden Love: Workplace-Romance Policies Now Stricter,” SHRM, last modified August
16, 2019, https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/forbidden-love-
workplace-romance-policies-stricter.aspx.
76
C. Boyd, “The Debate Over the Prohibition of Romance in the Workplace,” Journal of Business Ethics
97, no. 2 (2010), doi:10.1007/s10551-010-0512-3.
77
Tara N. Richards et al., “An Exploration of Policies Governing Faculty-to-Student Consensual Sexual
Relationships on University Campuses: Current Strategies and Future Directions,” Journal of College
Student Development 55, no. 4 (2014), doi:10.1353/csd.2014.0043.
78
Bowman, Hatley, and Bowman, “The Dual Role Controversy.”

without-consent.79 Therefore, the mission of delegates in this committee is to unravel
this puzzle, building resolutions on how to address the ramifications of CSRs in the
environment of tertiary education.
BLOC POSITION
1. Ivy League and Private National
Universities
Ivy League comprises eight elite universities that possess the lowest acceptance rates
of all U.S. universities, and they are technically private national universities. Names
like Harvard, Yale, or Princeton have been dreams of millions of families around the
world—what would it be like if your daughter goes to Harvard? It would definitely
be the pride of the whole family. However, this giant reputation is also the origin of
terrible college scandals in the U.S. Leadership at these universities will try to bury any
public embarrassment in order to protect the reputation of their institutions instead
of scrupulously resolving the problem. For example, only after the courage of seven
female victims to speak up and many investigations being conducted were the
sexual abuses of Dartmouth professors disclosed to the public, leading to the use of
special rules to fire five tenured professors.80 Thus, representatives of these top-notch
universities must reconcile between maintaining their reputation and keeping a safe
environment for their students. Legacy admission is also an overarching issue of Ivy
League universities as the “perpetuation” of some families for generations in these
institutions might contribute to widening the long-standing wealth gap. Recently,
many campaigns have arised to combat the overrating of high-ranked colleges in
the recruitment process of employers: graduates from Princeton should be treated
equally in terms of competence and potential in comparison to applicants from a
100th ranked liberal art college. These elite universities will have to address this issue in
the conference too.
2. Public National Universities

Public National Universities are well-known for their huge campuses and giant numbers
of students enrolled. For example, UC Berkeley has approximately 31,000 students and
owns a campus of 1232 acres, while Claremont Mckenna College (LAC) only had 1262
students in Fall 2020 and its campus size is 69 acres. Beside enormous campus size and
student population, public universities also charge appreciably cheaper tuition and
fees compared to private institutions since they function under state funding. Therefore,
these large institutions will be considerably influenced by financial policies of the state
– a point that delegates must pay serious attention to. For resolutions, the Congress
might cooperate with the IRS to implement regulations, qualifiers, and limitations to
penalize their wrongdoings and prevent future scandals.81 Additionally, delegates in
this committee representing public institutions must also keep in mind that they are
working alongside other big universities in their system. For example, UCLA, UCSD, UCB,
UCSB, etc. are all in the UC system and they have a common admission mechanism,
so they will stick to consistent policies. The state’s actions will also equally affect each
of these universities.
79
Peter DeChiara, “The need for universities to have rules on consensual sexual relationships between
faculty members and students,” Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems 21 (1987).
80
Anemona Hartocollis, “Dartmouth Professors Are Accused of Sexual Abuse by 7 Women in Lawsuit,”
The New York Times, last modified November 15, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/us/
dartmouth-professors-sexual-harassment.html.
81
Wilson, “The Legal College Admission Scandal,” 165-166.

3. Liberal Arts Colleges
Liberal Arts Colleges (LAC) are small private institutions in terms of both campus size and
student population. They only have from 500 to around 2000 students and classes often
range between 10 and 30 attendees. The philosophy of liberal arts is to allow students
to explore knowledge from interdisciplinary fields—students often do not have to
declare a major until the end of their sophomore year. At LACs, a tight-knit community
is fostered due to its small size; however, high-ranked LACs are usually predominantly
white colleges. In the 2020-2021 school year, while Bates College has 67.5% of its student
body being white, that percentage for Washington and Lee University is about 77%.
Of the top 50 LACs, according to US News, colleges of the higher ranking groups also
charge more expensive tuition and fees.82 Students enrolling in Colorado College must
pay $62,070 a year, about five times as much as the in-state tuition and fees of UCLA.
Financial burden, therefore, will be a great barrier to low-income students who want
to pursue a liberal arts education. As diversity of the student body will also deteriorate,
especially in the context of inflation and gradual annual increases in tuition, delegates
from these colleges must work to resolve issues surrounding the racial climate here.
Ranking is also a thrusting problem for liberal arts institutions. Due to the smaller applicant
pool compared with national universities, these colleges obviously want high positions on
ranking boards in order to attract more students. In January 2012, Claremont Mckenna
College admitted sending false statistics of their admitted students’ SAT scores to
U.S. News and other publications.83 That was why Reed College refused to participate
in the ranking system of U.S. News and World Report in 1995 though they were in top
ten LACs in 1983.84 Similarly, in 2005, St. John’s College (New Mexico) chose not to
send any requested survey information and disappeared from all collegiate ranking
boards. Their officials claim that their missions and methods have been maintained
for 60 years yet their rank has fluctuated between the first, second, and even third
tier, so they believe the ranking system is ridiculous and useless to assess universities’
performance.85 Delegates from LACs should do more research on ranking scandals
and direct their debate about the necessity of collegiate ranking systems and their
influence on students and colleges.
82
Nam Ninh, Connor Copus, and Vicente Blas-Taijeron, Increasing Tuition Fees and Dropping White
Students to Climb the Ranking Ladder: A study of Statistical Relationships between Tuition Fees,
White Student Enrollment, and Ranking of Top Liberal Arts Colleges in the United States, (Colorado
Springs, 2021).
83
Daniel E. Slotnik and Richard Perez-Pena, “College Says It Exaggerated SAT Figures for Ratings,” The
New York Times, last modified January 31, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/education/
claremont-mckenna-college-says-it-exaggerated-sat-figures.html/.
84
Chris Lydgate, “Reed and the Rankings Game,” Reed College, last modified September 12, 2018,
https://www.reed.edu/apply/college-rankings.html.
85
Christopher B. Nelson, “Why you won’t find St. John’s college ranked in U.S. News & World Report,”
University Business: The Magazine for College and University Administrators, accessed May 27, 2022,
https://web.archive.org/web/20071024014745/universitybusiness.ccsct.com/page.cfm?p=64

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(Vymun 2022) Specialized Committee Background Guide

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VYMUN 2022

Ninh Hai Nam

Crisis Directors: Pham Nhat Duong, Nguyen Trong Khang

Ninh Hai Nam

2 VYMUN 2022 | S-COM

3 VYMUN 2022 | S-COM

It is my great pleasure to serve as a member of VYMUN 2022’s Research and Planning

Whether untouched sides of distinguished universities will be disclosed or not depends

Ninh Hai Nam

Chairman at VYMUN 2022

4 VYMUN 2022 | S-COM

Higher education has long been meticulously glamorized as the gateway to a

As a college senior at RMIT University Vietnam, growing up, I have experienced my

Duong Nhat Pham

Crisis Director at VYMUN 2022

5 VYMUN 2022 | S-COM

I am honored to be serving as one of the Crisis Directors of the Specialized

Good luck and have fun!

Nguyen Trong Khang (TK)

Crisis Director - VYMUN 2022

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However, U.S. education is also undeniably a business, especially in the case of

Therefore, this committee is where an association of top-notch colleges and

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University of S-COM Offers ‘Pathway to Education’ for Ukrainian refugees

CHICAGO – Chairman Olivia Wellington made comments addressing Russia’s

Types of Directive, including but not limited to:

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● Main components of a Policy Directive:

Joint Directive: Operation Lockdown

Carries out direct espionage activities to pinpoint non-State armed groups

● Rights and Responsibilities of Universities

According to the 1915 “Declaration of Principles” by the American Association

10 VYMUN 2022 | S-COM

● Specialized Committee Outcome Expectations

2. Effective cooperation between collective faculty members and representatives

3. Bring in mutual agreements that prevent future scandals from evolving.

4. Work in unison to write official Draft Resolutions to put forward administrative,

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Operation Varsity Blues

In March 2019, federal prosecutors implicated more than 50 well-heeled parents,

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University Accused Personnel Details

⇒ Asset forfeiture of $3.4 million plus

Stanford University John Vandemoer Former sailing coach pleaded

⇒ Six months of house arrest,

University of Jorge Salcedo Former UCLA men soccer coach

⇒ Asset forfeiture of $200,000, eight

⇒ Asset forfeiture of $245,000,

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⇒ Asset forfeiture of $160,000.

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This comes in a few forms:

- Allowing Mark Riddell, who is 36, and a Harvard

- Replacing answer papers with Mark Riddell’s

He now faces 20 years in prison if found guilty for these

After the incident, he was handed a 4-month prison

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However, student-professor harassment causes go beyond the causes above, in which

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