The elite college admissions scandal exposes the inequities in our supposed 'meritocracy.'

The FBI has uncovered the biggest college admissions cheating scandal in history—and it's a doozy.

Fifty people, including high-profile celebrities and CEOs, NCAA coaches, and college exam administrators, have been indicted in a multi-million dollar cheating scheme to get wealthy kids admitted into elite colleges. Among those charged in the case are actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, and coaches at Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC.

The parents in the case apparently paid a college admissions consultant named William Singer to help their kids get into certain schools. In their arrangements with Singer, parents, coaches, testers, and others knowingly cheated in order to make that happen. In some cases, stand-ins took students' SAT or ACT tests for them. In others, coaches were bribed to accept students as athletic recruits in sports they didn't play—even going so far as to Photoshop students' heads onto athletes bodies in pictures—in order to be accepted with lower test score and grade requirements.

"We're talking about deception and fraud," said Boston U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, "fake test scores, fake credentials, fake photographs, bribed college officials." Whew.

These crimes are not just wrong. They also highlight the injustices in a system that many believe to be a meritocracy.

"These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege," Lelling said. He pointed out that even though they had "every legitimate advantage," they "instead chose to corrupt and illegally manipulate the system for their benefit."

It's all quite gross, from any perspective. But these crimes are a harsh slap in the face for those who are truly at a disadvantage when it comes to college—and who are constantly targeted by those who believe that the policies in place to help them are fundamentally unfair.

Clint Smith, a PhD candidate at Harvard, shared his initial reaction to the scandal hitting the news on Twitter:

"Thinking about all the black, brown, & low-income students who arrive at college & who are made to feel as though they don't deserve to be there, while so many wealthy students have their parents essentially buy their way into these schools & rarely experience the same skepticism," he wrote.

Thinking about all the black, brown, & low-income students who arrive at college & who are made to feel as if they don't deserve to be there, while so many wealthy students have their parents essentially buy their way into these schools & rarely experience the same skepticism.

— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) March 12, 2019

"Some ppl don't fully appreciate the psychological toll it takes on a student to navigate as school environment that both implicitly & explicitly tells you that you only got in because of an undeserving hand-out," he continued, "meanwhile somebody's parents donate a building & no one bats an eye."

Some ppl don't fully appreciate the psychological toll it takes on a student to navigate a school environment that both implicitly & explicitly tells you that you only got in because of an undeserving hand-out, meanwhile somebody's parents donate a building & no one bats an eye.

— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) March 12, 2019

"The very idea of our society, higher-ed or otherwise, being a 'meritocracy' is something that was made up to justify & reify existing social hierarchies," he concluded. "It's not real. What's real is how wealth & race combine to give ppl things that they tell themselves they inherently deserve."

The very idea of our society, higher-ed or otherwise, being a "meritocracy" is something that was made up to justify & reify existing social hierarchies. It's not real. What's real is how wealth & race combine to give ppl things that they tell themselves they inherently deserve.

— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) March 12, 2019

A meritocracy is only a real thing if everyone starts from the same starting block at the same time. (And, you know, if people don't cheat.) But that's just not reality. As others pointed out, the wealthy always start off ahead, and are able to buy their way even further toward the front.

Just a reminder that rich people are able to use their money and power to open elite doors for their mediocre children that, in turn, make it far more likely that they will succeed in life. Poor people and POC are expected to be exceptional. This is not a meritocracy.

— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) March 12, 2019

Meritocracy is a myth. This is scandalous because it is illegal, but legacy admissions also secure unearned advantage for wealthy collegiate students. We can’t just get moralistic when folks get caught by the FBI. There are systemic issues at work here. https://t.co/Q44DpUZRuE

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) March 12, 2019

In case you haven’t noticed, the idea that we are living in a meritocracy where people are judged by their skills and abilities is complete bullshit. We live in a game that the wealthy have rigged for their own benefit.

— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) March 12, 2019

But the implications of this scandal go so much further than the financial ability to bribe and the unfairness of cheating.

Time editor Anand Giridharadas explained in an epic Twitter thread how the whole system of wealth and charity and tax deductions and college admissions can be manipulated to keep the privileged at an advantage—and how the average taxpayer ultimately ends up paying more for it.

Meritocracy isn't really a thing to begin with, because rich parents can so easily transmit to children the ingredients it takes to succeed in "meritocracy."

Nonetheless, a bunch of rich parents conclude that their kids can't even succeed in rigged meritocracy.

— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) March 12, 2019

Now it gets better. To achieve this, they need to bribe people -- exam administrators, coaches, and others.

And you can't just Venmo them. That's where charitable foundations come in.

— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) March 12, 2019

When rich people make these charitable donations, they get to claim a tax deduction, first of all.

And the nonprofit receiving the bribe-bound money is tax-exempt.

So you and I and your uncle Felix are all paying higher taxes to make up for the shortfall from these exemptions.

— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) March 12, 2019

Some of that charity-turned-bribes winds its way to private universities that are also tax-exempt.

Think about it. In recent years, roughly half of graduates at some of these schools went into consulting or finance. Stanford has educated much of Silicon Valley.

But tax exempt.

— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) March 12, 2019

To recap, rich people take slots that could've gone to poor kids. They do so by donating to fake charity, thus costing taxpayers money. Some of the bribes go to universities that don't have to pay taxes on that income because they claim, dubiously, to serve the public above all.

— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) March 12, 2019

Good gracious. We all knew things like this probably happened behind the scenes, but there's something jarring about seeing it out in the open.

The good news is that at least these folks got caught. And hopefully their misdeeds will help bring the inequities in college admissions—even without the gross, blatant cheating—into the light of day.

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