The Dallas Morning News published a new editorial that explains why people should care about Lori Loughlin’s decision to plead guilty in the college admissions scandal.
What’s the news:
- On Thursday, Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, agreed to plead guilty in the case. The couple leaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.
- The couple were charged with paying $500,000 in bribes so their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose Giannulli, could be crew recruits for the University of Southern California. The couple maintained their evidence for more than a year.
- Now, the couple awaits approval from the judge in the case.
Why it matters
The Dallas Morning News published an editorial that explains why people should care about the scandal. The couple waited until now to plead guilty, possibly avoiding a longer sentence by doing so. But, the editorial opines, the couple’s sentencing is a sign that justice is served.
Other than the normal rubbernecking involved in watching high-profile people crash their seemingly successful lives, there is a reason why all of us should care about this scandal and how it plays out. The two celebrities were steadfast in denying their charges until much of the world moved on to deal with COVID-19. But in the end this scandal struck a central pillar of our society. In a free society, people who work hard to develop their talents should be rewarded for their achievements. One of the paths to such success is supposed to be earning your admission to a college. To the extent that we strip merit away from college admissions, we are undermining a merit-based society. So in this the colleges themselves should be outraged and society at large should be thankful that the authorities drove us toward a just outcome that exposes cheating and creates an incentive for each person to rise on their merits.
Read the entire editorial over at the Dallas Morning News.