California bans legacy admissions in all colleges, universities
(NEW YORK) — California has become the fourth state to ban legacy admissions in the college application process, a practice that has long been criticized as favoring white or wealthy students based on their familial alumni connections.
“In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Monday statement. “The California Dream shouldn’t be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we’re opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly.”
The decision affects private and nonprofit universities. The University of California system eliminated legacy admission preferences in 1998, according to Newsom’s office.
Legacy admissions have come under heightened scrutiny following the Supreme Court’s decision to limit race-based affirmative action programs for colleges and universities in June 2023. California law had banned affirmative action in 1996.
“In light of this shift, proponents of AB 1780 advocated for admissions criteria that additionally ensure that factors like wealth or personal relationships do not unduly influence admissions decisions,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
The majority of Americans — 75% of those surveyed in a April 2022 Pew Research study — believe a student’s relationship to an alumni should not be a factor in admissions.
“AB 1780 aims to ensure that admissions decisions are based on merit rather than personal connections — reducing biases in the admissions process at private colleges in California,” the governor’s office said.
All private colleges and universities in California must now submit an annual report to ensure compliance.
Research has shown that legacy applicants are admitted at higher rates, but are not more qualified or academically superior applicants. They are also a less racially diverse population.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Colorado-Boulder analyzed 16 years of data from an unnamed elite university in a September 2022 study released in the journal American Sociological Review.
It found that 34.2% of legacy applicants were admitted, compared to 13.9% of non-legacy applicants — most of them white, and most of them wealthier than their counterparts. These students are from ZIP codes with higher mean incomes and are less likely to apply for financial aid with their application, the study said. They are also flagged by the school as having high donor potential.
An analysis from the Institute for Higher Education Policy in 2021 found that 53% of selective four-year colleges consider legacy status in their admissions decisions.
California joins Colorado, Maryland and Virginia in banning these practices, reinforcing bans that hundreds of colleges have already implemented.
(WASHINGTON) — The crew of the Titan’s support ship felt a “shudder” around the time they lost contact with the submersible during its doomed dive to the Titanic shipwreck, the Coast Guard said Friday.
U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation Chair Jason Neubauer revealed during the last day of a two-week hearing on the implosion that the master of the Polar Prince told them that in hindsight, he believes he felt the ship “shudder” around the time when communications with the sub were lost during the June 2023 expedition.
The statement was provided to the board in October 2023, when the unidentified master was asked if he or crew members heard anything indicating the OceanGate submersible imploded, Neubauer said.
“The answer from the master was, ‘With the benefit of hindsight, I now believe I felt the Polar Prince shudder at around the time communications were reportedly lost, but at the time, we thought nothing of it. It was slight,'” Neubauer said.
Capt. Jamie Frederick with U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston, who testified Friday on the Titan search and rescue mission, said if that information had been reported immediately to the Coast Guard, that could have had a “drastic impact on the search efforts.”
“My initial reaction is, if that was information they have, to me personally, it would be unconscionable that they would not share that with the unified command,” Frederick said.
Neubauer added that from the crew’s perspective, the shudder was “not immediately connected to the event” so wasn’t reported to the Coast Guard.
Frederick detailed during his testimony the complex, international search and rescue response, which culminated with a remotely operated vehicle able to go to a depth of 6,000 meters finding the Titan debris on June 22 on the ocean floor.
“They discovered the tail cone first. And then as we continued to find additional debris, it became apparent that it had been a total loss,” he said.
The implosion killed all five passengers, including Stockton Rush, the co-founder and CEO of the sub’s maker, OceanGate. French explorer Paul Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, were also killed.
Frederick said the responders understood the Titan had survival systems on board and that they “never even got to the point to have the discussion of suspension.”
“I wouldn’t even want to speculate on when that would happen,” he added.
Frederick also addressed knocking noises detected by sonar buoys in the vicinity of the search location the day after the Titan imploded. He said the data was given to the U.S. Navy, which determined two days later it was not anyone knocking on the hull of the Titan. “They were 100% certain that it was not human in nature,” he said.
He also addressed an “anomaly” consistent with an implosion that was detected by the U.S. Navy in the general vicinity of where the Titan was at the time communications were lost. He said he was informed of the data a day after the Titan was lost and the information was classified at the time.
“It was one piece of data. It wasn’t definitive,” he said. “The Navy couldn’t tell us that it was 100% definitive, that it was an implosion.”
Rush said he would ‘buy a congressman’ to make Titan problems go away: Ex-employee
A former OceanGate employee testified during the hearing on Friday that he resigned from the submersible company after Rush told him he would “buy a congressman” to make problems with its Titan vessel go away.
Matthew McCoy was an active duty member of the U.S. Coast Guard prior to joining OceanGate as an operations technician in April 2017 as the company was building the first Titan prototype, which was never used on Titanic dives. He said he quit six months later, in September 2017, a day after his conversation with Rush.
McCoy said he told Rush he was concerned about operating the experimental Titan vessel without a certificate of inspection and that it would not be inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard. He said Rush responded that the Titan would be operating in the Bahamas and launch out of Canada and would not fall under U.S. jurisdiction.
“I think I had expressed to him that still taking U.S. passengers on there for hire at any point in time, if they touched the U.S. land, you know, U.S. port, that would also be of consideration,” McCoy said.
He said the conversation became “tense” and ended with Rush saying that “if the Coast Guard became a problem, he would buy himself a congressman and make it go away.”
“That will stand in my mind for the rest of time,” McCoy said. “I’ve never had anybody say that to me directly, and I was aghast. And basically, after that, I resigned. I couldn’t work there anymore.”
Asked by the Marine Board of Investigation if he felt like Rush was trying to intimidate him or if it was “more like bluster,” McCoy said he felt like Rush was trying to “either intimidate me or impress me.”
McCoy, a member of the Coast Guard Reserve, said he wasn’t clear on the regulations for the sub but was concerned about potentially violating U.S. law. He said he considered whether to notify the Coast Guard but OceanGate hadn’t done any dives in the U.S. with Titan.
He said he subsequently learned of a complaint OceanGate whistleblower David Lochridge filed in 2018 with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following his termination. McCoy said he thought there would be a “deeper investigation” into OceanGate at that point. Lochridge’s whistleblower retaliation case was closed in late 2018 after he and OceanGate entered a settlement agreement in their respective lawsuits, OSHA said. Lochridge’s safety allegations regarding the Titan were referred to the Coast Guard, OSHA said.
McCoy said there was an “alarm bell” before he quit that made him concerned about OceanGate’s operations and the production of the Titan’s carbon-fiber hull.
When he started, he said, it was “made very clear” OceanGate was working with the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory and Boeing, “so they had a lot of what sounded like legitimacy behind them, as far as the engineering.”
But he said he soon learned the company had broken ties with the laboratory and Boeing wasn’t going to be doing the layup for the carbon fiber. He said he felt OceanGate’s engineering department “didn’t seem overly qualified” and there were mostly “college interns” during the summer he was there.
He said after he left OceanGate he didn’t keep tabs on the company for long.
“I just kind of quit following the company, not thinking that they would ever actually dive the Titan,” he said.
Coast Guard investigation continues into ‘unprecedented’ incident
OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial operations after the deadly implosion.
The main purpose of the hearing was to uncover the facts related to the implosion and to make recommendations, the Coast Guard said.
At the conclusion of the two-week hearing Friday afternoon, Neubauer said the Coast Guard will conduct an analysis of the evidence collected and issue any recommendations to the commandant of the Coast Guard “to help ensure that nobody has to endure a future similar occurrence.”
Neubauer said that process can take several months but his priority is to “get this investigation done expeditiously, because I feel there are global issues at stake.”
Any determination on potential criminal acts will also be sent to the commandant of the Coast Guard, who would decide whether to make a referral to the Department of Justice, Neubauer said.
The National Transportation Safety Board will issue a separate report on its findings, including their official determination of the probable cause of the incident, at a later date, Marcel Muise, an investigator with the agency’s Office of Marine Safety, said at the conclusion of the hearing.
Neubauer offered his condolences to the families of those killed and thanked the more than two dozen witnesses who testified in the proceedings.
“It takes courage to testify in the public spotlight, especially in the aftermath of a traumatic event,” he said. “The subject matter covered during the sessions was often highly technical and emotionally charged, and I’m grateful to each witness who stopped and assisted in our efforts to fully understand this unprecedented incident.”
(WHITESBURG, Ky.) — The Kentucky sheriff accused of fatally shooting a judge in his chambers last week could face the death penalty if convicted, according to a special judge appointed to preside over the case.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, made his first court appearance Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges.
On Thursday, Stines allegedly killed Kentucky District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, inside his chambers in the Letcher County Courthouse, officials said. The shooting allegedly occurred “following an argument inside the courthouse,” according to Kentucky State Police, and investigators are still searching for a motive.
Stines did not appear to show emotion during the brief hearing on Wednesday, where he appeared over Zoom wearing a jail uniform alongside his public defender, who entered the not guilty plea on Stines’ behalf.
He is expected back in court on Oct. 1.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Former President Donald Trump thanked law enforcement for an “incredible” response to what the FBI described as an assassination attempt at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, golf course on Sunday.
Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was detained by Florida authorities in relation to the incident. Authorities are now probing for more details on the would-be shooter.
“I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes – It was certainly an interesting day!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated Patriots, and, all of Law Enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican Nominee in the upcoming Presidential Election, SAFE.”
“THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!” he wrote.
Secret Service agents accompanying Trump fired at a man armed with an AK-47-style rifle on or near the Trump International golf course on Sunday.
The incident comes around two months after Trump was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The FBI is investigating Sunday’s incident as an “attempted assassination.” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference Sunday afternoon that the gunman was within 300 to 500 yards of Trump when he was spotted.
Secret Service agents fired four to six rounds at him before he dropped his weapon and fled the scene in a vehicle. Witnesses reported the license plate number to authorities, and the suspect was stopped and detained.
It was not clear if the suspect was aiming his gun at the former president. Agents fired at the suspect after spotting his rifle through the fence line, multiple sources told ABC News.
Sources said three shell casings believed to be associated with the suspect’s AK-47 were found on the scene, though investigators are still evaluating whether the suspect fired his weapon. The rifle and two backpacks containing a GoPro camera and ceramic tiles were recovered from the scene, Bradshaw said.
Sources said Trump was immediately rushed to a safe area on the grounds of the golf course after the shots were fired.
Authorities are now probing Routh’s background. The detainee is believed to have ties to North Carolina and Hawaii, sources said. Sources told ABC News that the FBI is conducting an extensive investigation into Routh’s social media activity, travel and any criminal record. Friends, family and associates are also being sought for interviews.
Sources familiar with the investigation said authorities are looking into whether Routh had grievances related to Trump’s position on Ukraine.
Authorities are expected to file charges relating to the incident in the coming days, sources told ABC News.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both condemned the apparent assassination effort.
“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety,” Biden said in a statement.
Harris said she was “thankful” that Trump was safe and “deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt.”
“As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,” Harris said.
ABC News’ Lalee Ibassa, Katherine Faulders, Aaron Katersky, Soo Rin Kim, Michelle Stoddart, Pierre Thomas, Rachel Scott, Jack Date, Leah Sarnoff, Kelsey Walsh and Luke Barr contributed to this report.