In 2010, the United State’s biggest college cheating scandal begin with a video. Rick Singer explained how hard it was to compete in the world of college admissions and that one video lead to the involvement of 50 people, including two celebrity parents along with dozens of other parents, nine coaches, two SAT/ACT exam administrators and an exam proctor, a CEO and an administrator. The scandal was executed at several elite schools. It was accomplished by either paying someone else to take a standardized test under the student’s name or by bribing a college coach or official. The scandal ended up getting lots of attention in the media and presented a popular topic of discussion and controversy. Closer to home, what do Mount Greylock students think? Is it right for wealthy students to get special opportunities?

Most Mount Greylock students are fervently against the scandal: “It’s not right at all. Students should get into college solely because they’ve worked hard, not because their parents have money,” explained a student. Mount Greylock has a higher academic success rate and graduate percentage than most schools and overall, academics and sports are taken very seriously by both students and parents. The fact that several students made it into elite schools not by academic or sporting achievements but by cheating and using their wealth for bribes is upsetting for many students.

While most students agree that the scandal was just downright wrong, there are differing opinions when it comes to the question of whether the scandal should have received as much attention in the media as it did.

On one hand, cheating and other scandals happen often but do not receive as much media attention. As a student delineated, “I don’t necessarily agree with [the scandal], but I think it got way more attention in the media than it should have.” More media attention can spark others’ interests in beginning a similar scandal, according to one student.

On the other hand, due to the extensive amount of attention, people have become more aware of the possibility of a scandal. New measures have been, or are in the process of, being put into place in order to avoid a repeat of the scandal. According to another student, “the only way to address a problem is to know about it, so it’s good that it got lots of media attention.”