Operation Varsity Blues and the NCAA’s Special Admission Exception

“Operation Varsity Blues,” the university admissions scandal and ensuing federal investigation, made national news captivated public. Fascination with could have stemmed from involvement of celebrities such as Lori Loughlin Felicity Huffman and/or sheer ridiculousness scheme, in which wealthy prominent families paid exorbitant amounts money to secure their childrens’ admission elite universities. Others may closely followed resulting legal proceedings that included criminal charges like racketeering against 50 individuals civil lawsuits universities one suit seeking $500 billion damages. Lawmakers’ attempts at preventing future scandals legislatively also caused curiosity.
 This article, though, explores scandal’s intricate ties college athletics seeks determine most effective practical means mitigate likelihood a similar scandal. More specifically, article how head coaches an administrator used positions academically exploit little-known NCAA rule permitting use more lenient standards for incoming student-athletes. Scheme participants falsely indicated dozens applicants were student-athletes order trigger less rigorous The yielded relatively light sentences involved coaches, suits been unsuccessful. California attempted address legislatively, but, this explains, its reform package contains holes fail many scheme’s key components.
 concludes NCAA, opposed lawmakers, system, or individual universities, is best position prevent, of, scheme Operation Blues. Doing so would require only eliminating single inconsistent myriad other rules principles has resulted decades poor academic results.