Georgetown University is expelling two students in connection with the national college cheating scandal, the school said on Wednesday.
The university declined to name the students or comment on their cases, saying only that “each case was addressed individually and each student was given multiple opportunities to respond and provide information to the University” in the investigation. But the lawyer for one student, Adam Semprevivo, confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that his client was dismissed by Georgetown.
The scandal broke in March of this year, when federal investigators announced they were indicting dozens of parents, university athletic coaches, college administrators, and others who were allegedly involved in bribery schemes to get the children of wealthy, well-connected parents into elite colleges. The 33 parents—two of whom, Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin, are celebrities—allegedly paid bribes to a Sacramento man named William Singer to help their kids cheat on standardized tests, and/or to get them into selective schools as athletic recruits, despite the fact that they didn’t play competitive sports.
Gordon Ernst, the former tennis coach at Georgetown, was indicted in the case and accused of accepting bribes to help admit 12 students to the college as tennis recruits, even though they didn’t play tennis. He has pleaded not guilty, but several others in the case have admitted their guilt in court.
Singer, the mastermind of the scheme, pleaded guilty, as have three parents (about a dozen more plan to plead guilty in upcoming court hearings). One of the parents to plead guilty was Stephen Semprevivo, whose son is among the two Georgetown students facing dismissal.
Semprevivo has admitted to making a payment to a sham charity set up by Singer in exchange for his help getting his son, Adam Semprevivo, into Georgetown as a tennis recruit. Adam Semprevivo didn’t play competitive tennis, but was accepted to the university as a tennis recruit at the recommendation of Ernst, the team’s coach. He has never been on the tennis team roster since matriculating at Georgetown in 2016, per court records. He just finished his junior year at the school and is currently living in California.
Ten hours before the announcement, Adam Semprevivo filed a lawsuit against Georgetown in D.C. District Court, alleging a breach of contract by the university in its “arbitrary and capricious disciplinary process.” The suit seeks an injunction to stop the university from revoking the younger Semprevivo’s academic credits or subjecting him to any academic discipline.
Semprevivo earned a 1980 on his standardized tests and finished his junior year at Georgetown with a 3.18 GPA, according to the court filing. He argues that Georgetown has not followed its own policies in its investigation into his admission, and that the university knew or should have known about inconsistencies in his application well before the federal investigation became public. Semprevivo holds that he was not aware that his father had paid bribes to earn his admission to the university, nor that any crimes had been committed. His lawsuit pins the blame on Singer, who he says filled out his college applications and signed Semprevivo’s name for him.
The university also would not allow Semprevivo to withdraw from the university without prejudice while the investigation was underway and transfer to another school, court filings say.
“The threatened expulsion and loss of credits, predicated on numerous material violations of the contract between Semprevivo and Defendant, has precluded Semprevivo from receiving a degree from Georgetown, deprived his family of over $200,000, and may forever bar Semprevivo from transferring his earned credits to another university,” the suit reads.
Semprevivo’s lawyer told the LA Times that the lawsuit will be amended in the wake of Georgetown’s announced intent to expel Semprevivo. It will attempt to prevent any action by the university to complete his dismissal.
Georgetown maintains that its review has been thorough and that it has allowed accused students to respond to any accusations against them.
“Following the March 2019 indictments, Georgetown University began conducting a process of thoroughly reviewing the newly available information related to the alleged scheme, contacting current students who may have been involved, and giving each individual student an opportunity to respond,” Georgetown wrote in an emailed statement to DCist. “Applicants to Georgetown affirm that the information and statements contained in their applications are true, correct, and complete. Knowingly misrepresenting or falsifying credentials in an application can be cause for rescinding the admission of the student and dismissal from Georgetown.”
Isabelle Henriquez, a junior at Georgetown, has also been implicated in the case, for allegedly scheming with her parents to cheat on her standardized test exams and earn admission as a tennis recruit. It’s unclear if she is the second student who was dismissed on Wednesday.
Natalie Delgadillo