Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump’s admission to Pennsylvania University should be investigated, says professor

Donald Trump’s niece, Mary, claims president paid someone else to sit his entrance exam

Matt Mathers
Saturday 29 August 2020 08:58 EDT
Comments
Mary Trump says the U.S. has devolved into a version of her incredibly dysfunctional family

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Pennsylvania University professor has renewed calls for officials to investigate claims that Donald Trump‘s faked his admission test to get into the school.

Eric W. Orts, along with six other staff members, first called for a probe in July this year after allegations made in a book by the president’s niece, Mary Trump.

Ms Trump claimed that her uncle paid someone else to sit his entrance test to Pennsylvania in 1966, having transferred there from Fordham University, where he studied in the two years previous.

While accepting that the allegations were concerning, University officials decided against a probe, saying that the alleged incident took place too long ago for a meaningful enquiry to take place.

Mary Trump said she recorded conversations with the president’s sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, which backed up the claim that he cheated the test.

At the weekend, The Washington Post published audio of that recording, which Prof Orts says constitutes “new evidence”, worthy of an investigation.

Mary Trump said it was a man named Joe Shapiro, a student at Pennsylvania, who took the president’s test.

The White House has has dismissed the audio recordings of Maryanne Trump Barry, branding them “sibling rivlarly”.

According to Mr Trump’s former fixer, the disgraced lawyer Michael Cohen, the president ordered him to “to threaten his high school, his colleges and the College Board to never release his grades or SAT scores”.

Mr Trump has frequently boasted that he was a stellar student, but he declined throughout the 2016 campaign to release any of his academic records, telling The Washington Post then: “I’m not letting you look at anything”.

In 2018 Mr Trump suggested he was “first in my class” at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business program, where he finished his undergraduate degree.

But his name does not appear on the school’s dean’s list or on the list of students who received academic honours in his class of 1968.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in