Bribery Has Always Occurred in BFA Programs
The college admissions industry has been rocked by the scandal that accuses affluent parents using their endless funds to get their kids into selective schools in the country. Not only that, the FBI’s investigation is turning up evidence that these families also paid to have their children’s SAT/ACT scores changed as well. The whole thing is a mess and it’s going to result in college staff being fired and others going to jail.
But while many were shocked by the details that have been released, as someone who’s worked in college admissions for the past decade, I wasn’t shocked at all. Truth be told, this has been happening for years in the industry and if you think that BFA theatre/music/dance programs are in the clear, you’d be wrong. Here’s what I know:
The daughter of a lead singer of a popular rock band was applying for a BFA in Musical Theatre program in the New York City area. Rather than her application be read and approved by the department, it was handled by a staff member within the admission department. The young woman was admitted into the program despite the fact that the theatre department never saw her audition. Despite complaints to school officials from the theatre department, no action was ever taken.
The daughter of a 1980’s pop star wanted to attend a BFA Dance program in New York. Rather than have her attend the general auditions, the dance department told the admissions department that a special private audition was held for her, which they never had accommodated before. She was admitted to the program. Later, it was discovered that the young woman had never actually auditioned and simply came in for a chat with the program directors. Despite the discovery, no action was taken by the university.
The son of a hedge fund manager in New York City wanted to attend a west coast Film program. The student never submitted a portfolio but was admitted to the selective film school because his father provided the chair of the program, tickets to the Oscars that year. The chair was fired soon after when more unethical behavior had been discovered.
A student was admitted to a BFA in Musical Theatre program in Michigan strictly because she was the daughter of a Film producer who promised to not only film an upcoming project on their campus but also cast the program’s students in background and minor roles.
A New York professional sports star was able to get his daughter into a BFA music program by promising to get the school’s basketball team connections with apparel deals and access to games in NYC.
The daughter of a Golden Globe winning actress was admitted to a BFA acting program after her mother promised to come and teach master classes as well as purchase a new lighting system for the school’s black box theatre.
The son of an Automobile CEO was admitted to a selective theatre program in Boston after his father bought 2013 World Series tickets for two of the professors. Both professors were dismissed by the school when this was discovered.
The niece of a prominent politician was denied admission to a theatre program in Chicago. After a closed-door, one on one meeting with the Dean of Admission and the Politician, the chair of the theatre program was pressured into changing the decision and the young woman was admitted to the program.
A famous actor donated money to a Mid-West college. Over the next few years, all three of his children were admitted to the school’s BFA Musical Theatre, Technical Design and Dance programs without having to audition.
While some of these may sound more egregious than others, it’s important to know that they are all considered unethical in the admissions industry. You may think these happened years ago, but the Golden Globe actress and NY sports star examples happened just last year. So behavior like this is occurring in BFA programs as we speak.
If you witness this behavior or have information, I would normally suggest reporting it to university officials, but some of these schools have a tendency to sweep these things under the rug. Your best bet might be reporting your findings to the accreditation boards.
This scandal might put a stop to all of these shenanigans, or it may just make them harder to discover, but rest assured, BFA programs are not immune from all this.