Today: Mar 29, 2024

Students respond to television stars involved in college bribing scandal

J’Mari HughesReporter

When the term ‘Aunt Becky’ was trending number one on Twitter recently, social media was not reminiscing about her and Jesse’s iconic 1991 wedding or getting a sneak peek into what the character would be doing in the next season of “Fuller House.” Instead, actress Lori Loughlin was being charged alongside Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman, as well as dozens of others, for a nationwide college admission scandal.

“It’s kinda sickening and sad because there’s people that actually apply to this schools with outstanding school records,” said Jeshanah Berkeley, a junior, communications major. “There are kids who work really hard from day one to get into a school that requires things that they wanna succeed in life for and it’s sad because half the time those kids won’t get it them.”

Loughlin’s ties with Full House and the Hallmark Channel have been cut ever since she and her husband were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes for their daughters to be recruited into the University of Southern California’s rowing team, despite the two having only one experience with the sport, according to Us Weekly.

“I understand completely. I would do the same thing,” Berkeley said about Loughlin’s separation from the show. “It’s not only disrespectful and illegal but it’s just sickening that they used their money and their names to get their child into school, especially when they have no interest in it at all.”

Loughlin’s daughter, Olivia Jade, is a viral YouTube blogger who said she was only looking forward to parties and games in college in a YouTube video.

“If the only thing you’re in college for is to party and do anything besides learn then why are you there in the first place?” said Craig King, a junior and computer science major. “It just feels like a waste of time and a waste of money at the end of the day.”

King said he feels it is unfair for celebrities to use their fame to get their children a college education. He said, those who worked hard in order to get acceptance into college should not be turned down because other parents bribed their way.

“Say somebody worked really hard to get in, got near perfect scores, and worked day and night to get there,” he said. “For them not to get accepted, that really puts a wrong siding of how its supposed to be because you’re basically saying that bribing is the only way for you to succeed.”

Junior and philosophy major Justin Cross, said celebrities are already at an advantage when it comes to getting their children through school since their names bring promotion to the campus. Despite his opposition to Loughlin and Huffman’s misconduct, which he called unfair, he said he does not think Loughlin should be removed from the TV shows she stars in.

“It’s not like she killed somebody, she just sent her kids to college,” Cross said, “so I believe that she could be on [Fuller House] but like not get paid for it. You could forgive her.”

Twitter users used Loughlin’s role on “Full House” and the Netflix spin-off “Fuller House” to create a series of memes stating captions such as, “Uncle Jesse didn’t deserve her” and “We’re on our way to bail out Aunt Becky” which pictured the Tanners ride down the Golden Gate Bridge during the show’s theme song.

“There was a video of the Full House intro and I remember it was just jail  bars that slid and she went into a jail suit,” said Emily Alves, a freshman special education major.

Alves said Loughlin’s departure from the show was justified and that students should get accepted into school for working hard.

“When you’re in the spotlight like that people look up to you and if you set the wrong example people are gonna start following you,” Alves said, “and so she definitely needs to be reprimanded for what she did and it’s a good punishment that she’s not making any money.”

Berkeley said students should get into schools that benefit what they want to do in life, rather than just for a degree. Having watched Olivia Jade on YouTube in the past, Berkeley said she noticed the Internet star had been cut from Sephora, and she hopes Loughlin’s husband loses his branding as well.

“I’m still gonna watch Full House,” she said. “I still love Aunt Becky as a character, but it has changed my perspective of [Loughlin] and her family as well.”

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