# Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin indicted in Ivy League bribery scheme **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001 "2019-03-12T15:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/421 "2019-05-02T22:21:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Regarding the parents who paid $6.5 million to get their daughter into Stanford, would a straight, open donation of that much be enough to get her admitted? And if the answer is no, surely there are plenty of schools that would happily take that much for a guaranteed admission. I may be in the minority, but I don’t really have an objection if someone donates a significant amount to a university and gets (some) preference for admission. At least the institution is getting something that may contribute to its betterment, and could possibly help ensure that other students get financial aid. The problem with this case is that an unauthorized intermediary, whether an employee of the university or not, is the party to get all the benefits. The university basically got scammed here, along with the parents of other more deserving applicants. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/422 "2019-05-02T23:09:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Regarding the parents who paid $6.5 million to get their daughter into Stanford, would a straight, open donation of that much be enough to get her admitted? And if the answer is no, surely there are plenty of schools that would happily take that much for a guaranteed admission. $6 million is chickenfeed to a place like Stanford. The buildings in the Engineering area have names like Gates and Allen on them. Hell, at my MIT reunion the reunion classes together donated something like $30 million - and there are a lot fewer of us. We got cake. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/423 "2019-05-03T01:22:05Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > $6 million is chickenfeed to a place like Stanford. The buildings in the Engineering area have names like Gates and Allen on them. > . Funny coincidence: > [@](#): > > The Gates Computer Science Building, or Gates building for short, is an L-shaped building that houses the Computer Science Department as well as the Computer Systems Laboratory at 353 Serra Mall, Stanford University, California.[1] Construction on the building began in 1994 and was completed in 1996 at a cost of $36 million. It\*\*\* was named after Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who donated $6 million for the building’s construction\*\*\*. $6M is not chicken feed even if a few billionaires occasionally give way more for specific projects. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/424 "2019-05-03T17:09:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Regarding the parents who paid $6.5 million to get their daughter into Stanford, would a straight, open donation of that much be enough to get her admitted? And if the answer is no, surely there are plenty of schools that would happily take that much for a guaranteed admission. In the media reports that I’ve seen, Singer, the guy at the heart of this, would tell parents that their children could get admission through multi-multi million dollar donations. But he could do it much cheaper by bribing and test cheating. I’m skeptical though. That may have simply been his sales pitch. I knew a professor/administrator at Duke who said that a wealthy individual had called the University and basically asked how much to donate to secure admission for his academically average son. My professor said that the University told him that it couldn’t be done. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/425 "2019-05-03T17:10:33Z")
IOW, he wasn’t wealthy _enough_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/426 "2019-05-03T17:43:31Z")
Or rather, having asked it outright, he blew it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/427 "2019-05-03T20:22:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Regarding the parents who paid $6.5 million to get their daughter into Stanford, would a straight, open donation of that much be enough to get her admitted? And if the answer is no, surely there are plenty of schools that would happily take that much for a guaranteed admission. A key point, however, is that these people didn’t just want “any school.” They want specific schools–or, at least, a specific tier of school. I’ve seen real college advisers talk about this (maybe it was linked here? Too lazy to check every link in this thread). They’d tell the parents what the kid could realistically get, including with donations. The parents would often get incensed that they couldn’t just buy their way into the exact schools they wanted. And then this guy comes along and says he can, if they don’t care about him fudging the law “a bit.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/428 "2019-05-03T21:19:23Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Funny coincidence: > > $6M is not chicken feed even if a few billionaires occasionally give way more for specific projects. I don’t know what the going rate is today, but I bought my house across the Bay from Stanford at that exact time, and it is worth over 4x what I paid for it now. I don’t know the details, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Stanford wanted the building and Gates offered the biggest chunk to get his name on. And a Gates building is high prestige. Not so much for a guy whose money comes from Chines remedies and supplements. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/429 "2019-05-03T21:57:35Z")
Uh huh. I just looked at Stanford’s website. They say they got $1.13B from 76,000 donors in 2017-2018 making an average of about $15k/donation. Do you really want to defend that a $6M donation is “chicken feed”? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/430 "2019-05-03T23:57:36Z")
[Stanford Students admit it was pretty obvious billionaire’s dog didn’t get in by itself](https://www.theonion.com/stanford-students-admit-it-was-pretty-obvious-billionai-1834511729) ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/431 "2019-09-13T19:50:32Z")
ms Huffman will spend 14 days in prizon, with 1 year propation, 30 thousand dollar fine, and 250 hours of community service. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/432 "2019-09-13T19:52:07Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > ms Huffman will spend 14 days in prizon, with 1 year propation, 30 thousand dollar fine, and 250 hours of community service. I think that’s reasonable, especially the community service. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/433 "2019-09-13T20:27:12Z")
If Felicity Huffman was black, poor or both, how many _years_ in prison do you think she would have gotten for a similar felony? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/434 "2019-09-13T20:57:54Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > If Felicity Huffman was black, poor or both, how many _years_ in prison do you think she would have gotten for a similar felony? I agree that race and class are huge factors in the American criminal justice system. I don’t, however, believe any first offender would have received a harsher sentence than this. (and certainly not a $30,000 fine) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/435 "2019-09-16T09:31:31Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I agree that race and class are huge factors in the American criminal justice system. I don’t, however, believe any first offender would have received a harsher sentence than this. (and certainly not a $30,000 fine) [Wanna bet?](https://people.com/crime/mom-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-for-using-friends-address-to-enroll-son-in-school/) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/436 "2019-09-16T11:16:37Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > [Wanna bet?](https://people.com/crime/mom-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-for-using-friends-address-to-enroll-son-in-school/) Wow. Black woman, at times homeless, gets 5 years in prison for enrolling her 5-year-old in a school district using the babysitter’s address. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/437 "2019-09-16T13:22:51Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I agree that race and class are huge factors in the American criminal justice system. I don’t, however, believe any first offender would have received a harsher sentence than this. (and certainly not a $30,000 fine) > [@Gyrate](#): > > [Wanna bet?](https://people.com/crime/mom-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-for-using-friends-address-to-enroll-son-in-school/) I mean, really, Procrustus, talk about leading with your chin! Dude, this is America, where the system is literally built on taking advantage of, and punishing people for being, poor minorities. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/438 "2019-09-16T14:16:29Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I mean, really, Procrustus, talk about leading with your chin! Dude, this is America, where the system is literally built on taking advantage of, and punishing people for being, poor minorities. I do know that. (I was a public defender for 5 years). That’s an outrageous story. I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/439 "2019-09-16T19:09:06Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Wow. Black woman, at times homeless, gets 5 years in prison for enrolling her 5-year-old in a school district using the babysitter’s address. > > Wow. I think the sentence was partly due to her previous drug offences, but it should never have been a charge that leads to prison in the first place. (That might well be true of her drug offences too, but that’s a different discussion). It’s one of those occasions where I wonder what the fuck the judge was thinking. Homeless woman, five year old child, babysitter’s address (so not even random! It was a place that was as much of a home as the truck they were living in) and he hands down five years. At least a couple of years without her kids, for the crime of getting her kid into a school. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001/440 "2019-09-17T04:32:55Z")
True. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-indicted-in-ivy-league-bribery-scheme/831001.md?page=23)