By Emily Thomas

From selling human remains to trading sex for grades, there have been a number of university scandals that have rocked headlines. Perhaps most interestingly, is that most of these acts were either committed or facilitated by members of faculty and administration. The following is a list of the most headline-worthy scandals that have affected our universities during the past decade:

Baylor Basketball Murder

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On June 8, 2005 Carlton Dotson pleaded guilty to the murder of his college basketball teammate, Patrick Dennehy. Both played for Baylor University, a NCAA Division 1 basketball school. Dennehy disappeared from the Waco campus in June of 2003. A month and a half later, his remains were found in a field near the University. On September 3, 2003, Dotson was indicted for the murder. After his arrest, Dotson was declared incompetent to stand trial and was sent the state mental hospital for evaluation. Eventually Dotson was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Sadly, the motive behind this killing is still unknown.

Japan’s ‘Rape Club’

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Tomoyuki Takayama was arrested in 2003, confirming rumors that students from Japan’s top private universities were involved in what the press labeled “The Rape Club.” Grim details of multiple gang rapes emerged after the arrest of Takayama from Shin Wada’s Super Free Club (The Rape Club). Takayama was convicted of joining seven other men in gang-raping a female student in a nightclub stairwell after one of the Super Free parties. The leader of this “club”, and orchestrator of the rape parties, Wada, was arrested shortly thereafter as well. Thirteen other male students were also arrested for plotting and videotaping the gang rapes of women at the Super Free Club.

College Loan Scandal of 2007

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In spring of 2007, the $85 billion student loan industry came under heavy fire by New York’s Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo. Loan industry giants such as Student Loan Xpress were investigated for revenue sharing schemes with America’s top Universities. Cuomo investigated alleged kickbacks, including exotic vacation packages, given to school officials that guided students to particular lenders. This investigation unearthed numerous agreements profiting schools, financial aid officers and lenders at the expense of uninformed students. As a result, six schools: the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Syracuse University, Fordham University, Long Island University and St. John’s University, agreed to reimburse students nearly $4 million for inflated loan prices as a result of these corrupt partnerships.

College Basketball Coach Resigns After Partying with Players

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In 2003, photos surfaced of Iowa State University’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy drinking and kissing undergraduate student’s at a late night ISU frat party. After proof of incident was published in the Des Moines Register, Iowa’s highest paid public employee was fired from his $1.1 million a year job. Following, Eustachy held a press conference where the New York Times quoted him saying, “I don’t think I will be able to apologize enough, I have no excuse for my behavior.” Eustachy is now the basketball coach at Southern Mississippi University.

Yale Sex Tape Scandal

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Yale sophomore and Denmark native, Casper Desfeux was arrested for filming himself committing sexual acts with a girl without her permission in 2007. Desfeux declined to speak about the incident publicly, while his lawyer proclaimed it was a misunderstanding that should have been handled outside of court. Desfeux was eventually charged and found guilty of two type-D felonies: voyeurism; and the dissemination of voyeurism. As of April 2008, Desfeux applied for and was declined an accelerated probation, which is typically granted to first-time offenders found guilty of minor crimes.

Duke Lacrosse Team Rape Allegations

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The Duke Lacrosse rape case was media sensationalism at its best. In March 2006 members of Duke’s lacrosse team held an of-campus party and hired two exotic dancers to perform. One of the dancers later accused three players of raping her at the party. After the media got wind of the accusations, the story was covered on every major news network in the country. District Attorney Mike Nifong overstepped his jurisdiction in an effort to pin the rape charges on the alleged assailants. Due to lack of evidence, the case fell apart and the students were exonerated. Eventually Nifong was disbarred for his actions, and the three accused students have pursued a lawsuit against Duke University, claiming emotional distress caused by the school during the scandal.

Sex and Cash at Diablo Valley

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Diablo Valley College is one of California’s top transfer community colleges, but in 2007 it became better know for a grade changing scandal. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that 84 students and 400 grades were suspect to the felony-level grade changing charges. After investigations, and according to the school’s officials, it was determined that a number of students had regularly paid the schools records office employees up to $600 per grade changed. After initial allegations, a student worker came forward and confessed that sexual favors were sometimes also exchanged in lieu of cash. Two records office employees were eventually sentenced to a year in jail for their involvement in the scandal.

Published Racism at Tufts University

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Tufts University magazine published a Christmas carol parody "O Come, All Ye Black Folk," in December 2006. The racist parody went on to recite: “O Sing, gospel choirs, We will accept your children, No matter what your grades are, F’s, D’s or G’s.” The lyrics soon spread via local media, causing an outrage throughout New England. The University’s administration publicly apologized for the magazines actions, however, no disciplinary actions have been made public regarding the person responsible for writing and/or publishing this parody.

Famous Black University Forged Grades

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In 2004, an internal audit of Louisiana’s Southern University found that 541 students since 1995 had been involved in an elaborate grade-changing scheme. The school’s chancellor initiated the investigation when a student enrolled in one of Southern’s graduate programs presented undergraduate credentials from the same school, to which the academic department had no previous record of her as a student. This led to Southern University uncovering that 2400 grades had been changed since the mid 1990’s. Eventually Louisiana prosecutors filed criminal charges in the case, and school officials reacted by revoking the degrees of any student who graduated with tampered grades.

Christian University President Indicted

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Oral Roberts University President, Richard Roberts has recently been made the subject of a faculty-initiated lawsuit, citing financial, political and personal irregularities as head of the school. Roberts has taken an indefinite leave of absence since the release of detailed accusations filled by three former professors of the school’s history and government departments. The lawsuit alleges these professors lost their jobs due to their objections of Roberts’ efforts to enlist students for partisan politics. His actions were later scrutinized by the IRS in an attempt to disclose Roberts’ extravagant personal use the schools finances. The verdict and IRS investigations remain pending, whereas Roberts continues to maintain his innocence.

UCLA Faculty Profited from Selling Human Remains

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From 1999 to 2003, Henry Reid, Director of UCLA’s willed body program was found to have resold donated cadavers for personal profit. Reid’s attorney explained to a grand jury that he was poorly paid and as a result, was tempted to access the lucrative world of selling cadavers and body parts. Reid’s partner, Ernest Nelson, acted as a middle-man and reportedly made over one million dollars reselling the body parts to more than twenty private medical, pharmaceutical and hospital research companies. In October 2008 Reid was sentenced to four years and four months in a plea agreement; Nelson is still awaiting trial for eight felony charges including conspiracy, grand theft and tax evasion.

Air Force Academy Sex Scandal

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The US Air Force has removed the leadership of its elite academy following allegations that a number of female cadets, who reported sexual assault, were either ignored or reprimanded. As reported on CBS’s The Early Show in June 2005, more than sixty female cadets from the Colorado Springs Academy have come forward claiming they had either been sexually assaulted or rapped over a ten year span. Cadet Jessica Brakey, claimed she was afraid for two years to report what happened to her at an outdoor training exercise, in fear of further retaliation by her peers and superior officers. As for the dozens of accusations, not one resulted in a conviction. Brakey’s fellow cadet Beth Davis was reported saying on The Early Show that, “It’s indicative of a horrible culture (at the academy) as far as women are concerned. They really don’t want us there. The surveys prove that. It’s a shame. But it definitely is not sending the right messages."

Racist College Republican

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Adam LaDuca, 21, the leader of a statewide group of college Republicans was forced to resign after posting racially insensitive comments about then Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on the Internet. LaDuca wrote on his Facebook page in late July that Obama has “a pair of lips so large he could float half of Cuba to the shores of Miami (and probably would.)” Two years prior to this incident, LaDuca also made headlines when his Kutztown’s College Republicans chapter was heavily criticized for holding a “bake sale” to protest affirmative action – whites were charged more for cookies than blacks. LaDuca, then the group’s spokesman, made a public apology on the group’s behalf. LaDuca has since been forced to resigned his position from the college Republicans in August 2008.

Colorado Rape Scandal

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In 2004 a seventh woman came forward alleging that she was raped by players or recruits of the University of Colorado football team. The national headlining scandal had been brewing for sometime before this after a female kicker on the team alleged that she was often groped during team huddles, and was also raped by a teammate. Other female students that came forward alleged that they were raped at a 2001 party held to attract new recruits to the team. When news of this broke, it uncovered that fact that members of Colorado’s football team often used sex, drugs, and alcohol to recruit promising young players. Following these allegations, Colorado’s football coach Gary Barnett was eventually fired. No convictions were ever prosecuted on the alleged sexual misconduct by players and recruits of the football team.

Top Florida Republican Resigns Over College Job

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Newly elected House Speaker, Ray Sansom was forced to step down from his position in January 2009. Insisting he did nothing wrong, Sansom was found to have accepted an unadvertised $110,000 salary from Northwest Florida State College, while previously holding the position of House Budget Chairman. He maintained his innocence, even after investigations found that his office had funneled approximately $35 million to the school for new building projects. This scandal first made headlines in November 2008, when local news outlets reported on the college’s expansion at a time when the state’s education budget was dramatically being downsized. As of February 2009, a Florida grand jury has agreed to look into accusations that Sansom had traded the college appropriations for the job.