The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

Commons addresses college cheating scandal

No parent of a student or graduate has been charged in the recent college admission cheating scandal, President Rick Commons announced in an email sent to the school community March 18.

“The LA Times has reported that one of the indicted parents had a child who attended Harvard-Westlake,” Common said in the email. “That student withdrew before entering upper school, and the charges appear to pertain to a sibling who did not attend Harvard-Westlake.”

Though the email said there is still much that the administration does not yet know, Commons addressed that the school has not had any relationship with William Singer, the independent college counselor at the center of the case, and that the school discourages families from hiring independent college counselors.

Commons also said that the Department of Justice requested the records of two alumni, which the school provided, and that the school will continue to cooperate with the investigation.

“I want to emphasize that I have absolute confidence in the honesty of our deans, the accuracy of the information they provide to colleges and their focus on personal character in the guidance they provide our students,” Commons said in the email. “Hand in hand with Harvard-Westlake’s well-deserved reputation for excellence is our core belief in ‘living and learning with integrity.’ Never has that aspect of our mission been more critical than it is right now, and I know you join me in unwavering commitment to integrity in everything we do at Harvard-Westlake.”

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Commons addresses college cheating scandal