- A poster from the University of Southern California’s crew team shared last year said “No previous rowing experience is necessary” to try out for the team.
- The poster resurfaced over the weekend, as actress Lori Loughlin faces charges in the college admissions scandal.
- She and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying $500,000 to get their daughters admitted into USC by having them recruited as crew athletes, despite not having experience in the sport.
- They pleaded guilty in April and face up to 40 years in prison if they’re convicted.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
An old recruitment poster for the University of Southern California’s crew team is being mocked online for saying “No previous rowing experience is necessary” after actress Lori Loughlin was accused of using the sport to get her daughters into the school as part of the college admissions scandal.
The poster, shared on the crew team’s Twitter page in August 2018, offered dates for informational meetings to learn about the team.
Want to become a Division I athlete? Look into joining our Trojan Rowing Family! #FightOn pic.twitter.com/zr5oRbzDLD
— USC Women's Rowing (@USCWomensRowing) August 17, 2018
Months later in March 2019, Loughlin was accused of paying the college admissions scandal’s ringleader, William “Rick” Singer, $500,000 to get her daughters admitted into USC by having them recruited as crew athletes, despite not having experience in the sport.
People rediscovered the old recruitment poster over the weekend, and have been noting how it relates to the scandal.
On Twitter, social media users asked if they could join without $500,000 and replied to the recruitment poster with GIFs from "Full House," the show that made Loughlin famous.
Can we finance the $500,000 application and guaranteed acceptance fee.
— George A Robinson (@GeorgeARobinso1) May 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/MartinDatKing/status/1125159255609434112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/TheWaxHeaven/status/1125189659997429761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/burnit01/status/1124893587651604482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/nicolyravioli/status/1125226933745098752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Women's crew teams across the country have reportedly recruited athletes will little rowing experience for more than a decade.
The New York Times published a story in 2004 about varsity-level women rowers recruiting freshman to try out for the sport in an effort to satisfy Title IX legal requirements for gender equity. In March, The American Conservative published a similar article.
The sport has a designated amount of scholarship money for women at schools across the country each year, though the NCAA reported last year that it can be more difficult to be recruited than expected.
Prosecutors said in March that Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, used bribes to get their daughters, Isabella and Olivia Jade Giannulli, recruited as coxswains, steersman of the rowing boats. The women never participated in the sport at USC.
Loughlin and Giannulli have rejected plea deals and pleaded guilty in April.
They are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and hoist services mail and wire fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.
They face up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
- Read more:
- The Chinese woman whose family was the college admission scandal's biggest client says she was duped into paying $6.5 million to get her daughter into Stanford
- Prosecutors say even more people could be charged in the college admissions scandal, and parents are scared
- The ringleader of the college admissions scandal is spending his days at a pool club in Florida as he awaits sentencing in the scheme
- Lori Loughlin reportedly plans to say she didn't know about the scam to get her kids into USC - even though they were admitted for a sport they don't play