The T.M. Landry Scandal: How a Louisiana School Faked Its Way Into the Ivy League

About this episode

This episode explores the T.M. Landry scandal, detailing how a Louisiana school faked its way into Ivy League acceptances through fraudulent practices.

A unaccredited private school in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana became a national sensation when its students began landing acceptances at Harvard, Stanford, and other Ivy League universities. The viral videos were inspiring. The story seemed almost too good to be true. It was. New York Times reporters Katie Benner and Erica Green investigated T.M. Landry and uncovered a years-long college admissions fraud: fabricated transcripts, invented extracurriculars, and personal essays built on trauma the students never experienced. Behind it all was the school's charasmatic and manipulative founder, Mike Landry. This episode explores the rise and fall of T.M. Landry, the college admissions scandal it exposed, and who really pays the price when a system built to exclude finally gets gamed. Subscribe to our newsletter: ⁠https://jedlipinski.substack.com/⁠ Connect with Jed Lipinski: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/gonesouthpodcast/⁠ ⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/gonesouthpodcast/⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jed-lipinski/ Katie Benner and Erica L. Green's book is "Miracle Children: Race, Education and a True Story of False Promises"…

Topics covered

• college admissions fraud
• T.M. Landry scandal
• Ivy League
• education
• systemic issues

Keywords

• T.M. Landry
• college admissions
• fraud
• Ivy League
• education scandal
• Mike Landry
• Katie Benner
• Erica Green

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: T.M. Landry, Harvard, Stanford

Books & works: Miracle Children: Race, Education and a True Story of False Promises

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