DOJ case development

Flaxman’s son no longer at USD, no other university member involved

Luke Garrett / News Editor / The USD Vista

The March “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal at the University of San Diego has come to a close. The student who allegedly gained attendance to USD is no longer in attendance, and an internal investigation found no other students or staff involved or connected to the March Department of Justice indictment. 

Flaxman’s son no longer attends USD

The USD Office of the Registrar confirmed that the involved student no longer attends the University of San Diego as of May 23. Although student records are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), “directory” information concerning the student’s name, dates of attendance, and major is available without the consent of the student or their parents.  

The student’s last day at USD was 24 hours before his father, Robert Flaxman, pled guilty to mail fraud regarding the March Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment on May 24. Flaxman’s son was a third-year engineering student. 

The reasons for the student’s departure from USD are unknown. University officials did not answer why the student left and whether his credits where rescinded, citing FERPA. The student himself, did not respond to an interview request from The USD Vista.  

Other universities implicated in the March indictment — Yale, Stanford, and the University of Southern California — have rescinded admission and vacated the credits of some students involved, while other students, like Lori Loughlin’s daughters, have left their universities on their own accord with credits intact. 

According to the father’s plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, the admission scheme involving Flaxman’s daughter will be the only one resulting in criminal charges for Flaxman. 

No other staff or students involved in the scandal 

Over the past few weeks, USD President James T. Harris III, D.Ed. emailed students and staff the findings of an internal independent investigation called for in March following the DOJ indictment. 

The law firm, Snell & Wilmer L.L.P., found that no other current or former USD employees were involved in the alleged wrongdoing other than those cited in the DOJ indictment. The investigation did find that four USD employees had contact with Singer, the scheme’s orchestrator, but found no wrongdoing done on their behalf. 

In an interview, Harris spoke of the steps university officials are taking to guard against future admissions bribery attempts.  

“We are going to have another coach and another administrator in athletics look at the list (of students) that a coach submits — no matter what the sport is — to the admission office,” Harris said. “And we are going to have not one set of eyes, but two sets of eyes in the admission office on any of these discussions.”

Snell & Wilmer investigators did find information concerning the involved student but all was redacted from the report due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Harris also declined to make any comment on the involved student, citing FERPA restrictions. 

This act guards college students’ information from being released without the eligible student or parent’s consent. However, FERPA does allow universities to publish “directory” information, including the student’s dates of attendance and major, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Because of this, the USD Office of the Registrar confirmed with The USD Vista that the student who was allegedly bribed into USD no longer attends the university. 

Original March Indictment

The initial DOJ indictment concerned Robert Flaxman, his son and daughter, Martin Fox, and William “Rick” Singer. 

According to the DOJ, Fox facilitated bribes paid for by Flaxman and allegedly received by former USD men’s basketball head coach Lamont Smith. In return for the payments, Smith allegedly designated the son of Flaxman as a basketball recruit, even though the son did not play the sport. 

As for the daughter, Smith was paid $10,000 in helping secure her admission although she did not attend USD like her brother, according to DOJ documents. The Snell & Wilmer investigation did find further university documents that paint a full picture of how Smith used his powers as head coach to ensure the admission of Flaxman’s daughter.

In brief, the indictment and executive summary detail how Smith told the USD Admissions Office that Flaxman’s daughter was the sister of one of his players and he wanted her to fill one of his student manager positions. University records show that there was no funding for the manager position. 

On May 24, Robert Flaxman admitted to paying $75,000 to alter his daughter’s ACT score, according to a Los Angeles Times article. According to the published plea agreement, between Flaxman and the DOJ, no other criminal charges will be made against Flaxman in connection to the initial indictment, meaning his son will not be included in the federal prosecution of his father.

Robert Flaxman will be sentenced on Oct. 18 in Mass. at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse.