Yale University to review coaches' athletic recruits in response to scandal

[NEW YORK] Yale University will review proposed rosters of athletic recruits before they're sent to the admissions office, bolstering its policies in the wake of government allegations that coaches at top US schools were among those who took bribes to admit students whose applications were falsified.

"Situations in which a recruited athlete fails to make a team will receive close scrutiny," Yale's president, Peter Salovey, said Friday in a statement. Dozens of people have been charged this week in the alleged criminal conspiracy, including parents accused of paying as much as US$6.5 million in fees and bribes to get their kids into school.

The FBI investigation revealed that one Yale coach gave bogus athletic endorsements to two students, one of whom was admitted and is now attending the New Haven, Connecticut school.

"Although I do not comment on specific disciplinary actions taken with respect to an individual student, our longstanding policy is to rescind the admission of students who falsified their Yale College applications," Mr Salovey said.

The government alleges that in 2017, Rudy Meredith, then-head coach of the Yale women's soccer team, took a US$400,000 bribe and accepted a recruit who hadn't played the sport competitively. Ms Meredith, who resigned last November, didn't respond to a request for comment earlier this week after the scandal broke. Yale's Office of the General Counsel received a federal grand jury subpoena from the Boston US Attorney's Office on Nov 16 requesting information about Ms Meredith, according to Friday's statement.

The school's director of athletics is working with its dean of undergraduate admissions to implement a code of conduct for athletic recruitment, Mr Salovey said in Friday's statement.

BLOOMBERG