Update - Actions to detect and prevent admissions fraud
March 26, 2019
To the Yale Community,
On March 12, federal prosecutors announced that they had uncovered a nationwide scheme whereby families were attempting to get their children admitted to highly selective universities based on fraudulent applications. I wrote to the Yale community on that day as well as on March 15, when I shared the news that former women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith had given fraudulent athletic endorsements to two applicants, one of whom was admitted to Yale. A set of relevant FAQs accompanied that letter and has since been updated. The internal reviews that I announced on March 15 are underway, and today I write to inform the community about the actions we have taken so far.
We have confirmed the pre-admission athletic credentials of all members of our athletic teams who received an athletic endorsement during the admission process, dating back to 2015. Furthermore, with the exception of the single student who was fraudulently admitted, we have determined that all enrolled Yale students who were admitted with an athletic endorsement played at least one season on their varsity sports team. The admission of the student who received a fraudulent endorsement has been rescinded.
Under the leadership of Athletics Director Victoria Chun, going forward the Athletics Department will review and confirm the athletic credentials of all recruits proposed to receive a coach’s athletic recommendation for each of Yale’s thirty-five varsity men’s and women’s sports teams. This new protocol will provide a second, higher-level verification of the athletic credentials of recruited student-athletes before that information is shared with the admissions office, to be considered as one factor in a comprehensive review of each student’s qualifications for Yale admission.
We also have launched a comprehensive review of the procedures we follow in providing an Athletics Department recommendation for the admissions process, to safeguard the integrity of our practices. Should we become aware of any further improprieties in the process, we will take appropriate action.
Yesterday the Department of Education informed the university that it is initiating a “preliminary investigation” into whether Yale and seven other universities, whose employees or applicants were named in the federal bribery investigation, have complied with regulations and requirements pertaining to the federal student aid program. We are reviewing the department’s requests and will respond appropriately.
I will keep the community aware of any significant further developments in this matter. I offer my gratitude to the many people in our community who are working to ensure the integrity of our admissions process.
Sincerely,
Peter Salovey
President
Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology
Update - Actions to detect and prevent admissions fraud
To the Yale Community,
On March 12, federal prosecutors announced that they had uncovered a nationwide scheme whereby families were attempting to get their children admitted to highly selective universities based on fraudulent applications. I wrote to the Yale community on that day as well as on March 15, when I shared the news that former women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith had given fraudulent athletic endorsements to two applicants, one of whom was admitted to Yale. A set of relevant FAQs accompanied that letter and has since been updated. The internal reviews that I announced on March 15 are underway, and today I write to inform the community about the actions we have taken so far.
We have confirmed the pre-admission athletic credentials of all members of our athletic teams who received an athletic endorsement during the admission process, dating back to 2015. Furthermore, with the exception of the single student who was fraudulently admitted, we have determined that all enrolled Yale students who were admitted with an athletic endorsement played at least one season on their varsity sports team. The admission of the student who received a fraudulent endorsement has been rescinded.
Under the leadership of Athletics Director Victoria Chun, going forward the Athletics Department will review and confirm the athletic credentials of all recruits proposed to receive a coach’s athletic recommendation for each of Yale’s thirty-five varsity men’s and women’s sports teams. This new protocol will provide a second, higher-level verification of the athletic credentials of recruited student-athletes before that information is shared with the admissions office, to be considered as one factor in a comprehensive review of each student’s qualifications for Yale admission.
We also have launched a comprehensive review of the procedures we follow in providing an Athletics Department recommendation for the admissions process, to safeguard the integrity of our practices. Should we become aware of any further improprieties in the process, we will take appropriate action.
Yesterday the Department of Education informed the university that it is initiating a “preliminary investigation” into whether Yale and seven other universities, whose employees or applicants were named in the federal bribery investigation, have complied with regulations and requirements pertaining to the federal student aid program. We are reviewing the department’s requests and will respond appropriately.
I will keep the community aware of any significant further developments in this matter. I offer my gratitude to the many people in our community who are working to ensure the integrity of our admissions process.
Sincerely,
Peter Salovey
President
Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology