Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. If there’s not, let him go out in style.”. The best-known case involved a student from China whose parents paid Singer $6.5 million. Kate Taylor contributed reporting, and Susan C. Beachy contributed research. Stanford University’s head sailing coach, John Vandemoer, agreed to plead guilty to a charge of racketeering conspiracy. Read the full Justice Department filing here. How the alleged college admissions bribery worked at Stanford. Stanford takes great pride in its athletics program, which for the 25th consecutive year won the N.C.A.A.’s Directors’ Cup, the award for overall excellence. Stanford’s president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, and provost, Persis Drell, vowed to review the applications Shirvell judged “to assure his assessments were sound.”. “He was always a square peg in a round hole in the bureaucracy of Stanford,” said Stafford, who credited Amerkhanian with molding him into an Olympian. Miranda, a university spokesman, said in a statement. It has a $26.5 billion endowment and prides itself on achieving athletic excellence without sacrificing integrity. Billy Witz reported from Redwood City, Calif., and David W. Chen from Boston. How politics can slice half an hour off Christmas lunch as families row but meals last longer if they agree on the issues of the day. Amerkhanian mentioned the student to admissions, according to people who have talked to the former coach. But Cal is now investigating, and has noted that evidence of fraud may lead to diplomas being revoked. Singer and others created another fake sailing profile. Standford University sailboats are seen docked and covered in the waters near Stanford Rowing and Sailing Center in Redwood City, Calif. Tuesday, March 12, 2019 following the news of Stanford women sailing coach John indictment in a large college admissions bribery scheme. It has acknowledged that Singer contacted other coaches at Stanford — Amerkhanian among them. In March 2019, John Vandemoer, Stanford University's head sailing coach for 11 years, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering for accepting bribes in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, to hold open admission spots at the university for three applicants falsely portrayed as competitive sailors, in exchange for $770,000 in payments to the sailing program. Conversely, rowing requires long levers, brute strength and fierce determination to push through searing pain on the water. HBS & Stanford MBAs Snared In College Admissions Scandal. 650-723-4323. His firing, on April 18, stunned the Stanford rowing community, which had been planning to honor him at a retirement barbecue at the boathouse nine days later, to coincide with the annual Big Row against the University of California, Berkeley. Sidoo discussed the possibility that at least one son, Jordan, a coxswain in high school, be recruited to Stanford. (AP Photo/Steven Senne). It was a reasonable question. Singer, who lived in Sacramento and Newport Beach, was indicted on money laundering, racketeering, fraud and obstruction of justice charges, according to documents unsealed Tuesday. John Vandemoer, center, Stanford’s former sailing coach, leaving court in June. Other top rowing programs like Yale and Cal each spent around $675,000 in 2017, and the University of Washington spent $1.25 million. According to court filings by … A Stanford Coach Ensnared by the College-Admissions Scandal: ‘The Biggest Mistake of My Life’ John Vandemoer, a former sailing coach, became part of … A problem Amerkhanian and Vandemoer had in common was the cost of competing against colleges in the Northeast. At least one parent indicted in the scandal, a Canadian businessman, also contacted Amerkhanian to discuss a recruiting spot for his son. They must transport their boats, which can run up to $80,000 for a carbon fiber shell, to races. The Department of Justice included in their criminal complaint a transcript of a call they say took place between parent John B. Wilson, of Massachusetts and a cooperating witness in the college admissions bribery scandal, believed to be Willian Rick Singer, discussing payments to now-former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer. Jordan went to Cal, and was on the rowing roster for at least one season before graduating in 2018. • Third parties took classes instead of the actual students and earned grades for them. His children, John Jr. and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, attended college and graduate school at Stanford. Stanford maintains it has not unearthed any other cases of admissions fraud, however. The university has reviewed email accounts, phone records and computers of coaches and athletic department staff. I feel so lucky to have stumbled upon the the sport of rowing and the community and experiences it has provided.” » Ellie Parker - 2015 All-American. Few people were aware of why any of the coaches was dismissed. In March, a week before the admissions scandal broke, James Shirvell, an admissions officer, was fired after the police charged him with the attempted murder of his girlfriend while under the influence of LSD. Previously, she covered Oakland City Hall and the East Bay for The Chronicle, reporting on stories ranging from the Ghost Ship fire tragedy to the Oakland police misconduct scandal. “That was definitely the culture.”. Symphony’s longtime piano star, dies at 69. John Vandemoer was sentenced in Boston federal court to six months of home detention and two years of supervised release. If experience is crucial in a sailboat, rowers can be made — and over the last 15 years, few have cranked out Olympians like Amerkhanian. Stanford takes out the brass knuckles if you dare speak up or out about their. Stanford is investigating the scope of the wrongdoing. “Stanford athletics is a really cold, calculating, bureaucratic organization,” said the Olympian Silas Stafford, a rower who graduated in 2008. March 14, 2019. Stanford spent about $386,000 on its rowing programs in 2017 — down from a peak of $557,000. Vandemore is believed to have helped two other students get into Stanford as part of the sailing team, both of whom were the children of Singer’s customers. Read the full Justice Department filing here, Yosemite’s Half Dome summit to reopen to hikers with cable installation. BOSTON — Stanford University's former sailing coach avoided significant prison time and was sentenced Wednesday to just one day behind bars for his role in a … But Vandemoer said in an interview before his sentencing that his budget did not include equipment; his biggest fund-raising need was to replace a fleet of 18 sailboats — at a cost of about $120,000 — every five to eight years. misconduct., Even if the Dean ( Big Garth Saloner) terminates the husband of the professor that the Dean is having a florid affair, Stanford finds it acceptable to fund the defense of the Dean (Saloner) all the while scorched earth destroying the innocent Phills who was just doing his teaching job at Stanford. The coach replied: Six-foot-five, 1,500 SAT and 4.0 G.P.A. If there’s really dirt, let it see the sunlight. In some cases, the college coaches pocketed the money. Stanford's former sailing coach gets one day in prison for role in admissions scandal This article is more than 1 year old John Vandemoer admitted to agreeing to help students gain Stanford … Caught Up in the College Admissions Scandal: Stanford’s Boathouse. Both Singer and Vandemore have pleaded guilty. Chief Counsel . Wealthy parents paid bribes to get their children into elite universities using false information about their athletic and academic abilities, federal officials said Tuesday as they unveiled the largest-ever criminal case alleging a college admissions cheating scheme. He has pleaded not guilty to paying Singer at least $200,000 between 2011 and 2013 to hire a test administrator to take the SAT in place of each of his two sons and a Canadian high school graduation exam in place of his older son. Stanford said the violations came to light this year, but refused to specify if they were spurred by the federal investigation or if they were gleaned from the scrubbing of computers and phones. • When the student decided to attend a different college, Vandemoer agreed to use the recruitment spot for a different child in exchange for $500,000 to the sailing program. One parent who approached the coach was David Sidoo, a Vancouver businessman. But right now, what does the existence of such a scandal say about all of us? Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov. John Vandemoer, former head sailing coach at Stanford, arrives at federal court in Boston on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, where he was expected to plead guilty to charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal. He now lives at the vacation home of a Stanford benefactor and coaches privately, at a club run by his wife, just a few hundred yards from the Stanford boathouse. 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