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A filing yesterday in a federal court included email messages from administrators at the University of Southern California in which the university factored in expectations of donations from wealthy families in making admissions decisions, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The filing came from a lawyer who is representing two parents who allegedly participated in a high-profile illegal admissions scheme, which federal investigators dubbed Varsity Blues.
USC officials created color-coded spreadsheets to track "special interest" applicants with connections to university officials, trustees and donors, according to documents filed with the court. They include references to past and prospective donation amounts, with some exchanges revealing that applicants with questionable academic qualifications were admitted based on their family's wealth and connections.
A university spokeswoman told the newspaper that many USC departments use the special-interest tag, and that the emails in the filing “demonstrate that no athletic department official has the authority to compel admissions decisions.”
