TM Landry Prep School One of the school's founders, Mike Landry.
The T.M. Landry is a school in Louisiana that is known for getting black working-class students into some of the nation’s best colleges.
On Nov. 30, The New York Times released an expose that uncovered an alleged “darker reality” about the school, which involved mental and physical abuse, as well as outright fraud.
The school was founded by a couple named Mike and Tracy Landry. Mike Landry was formerly a teacher and a salesman. His wife, Tracey, was a nurse. Here’s what you need to know:
1. T.M. Landry College Preparatory Bills Itself as a School Dedicated to ‘Self-Worth’
According to the school’s site, T.M. Landry is a school “dedicated to promoting each child’s self-worth and dignity in a supportive, educational and safe environment while preparing them to prosper and flourish in a culturally diverse, technological society.”
The school claims that it has a 100% graduation rate, as well as a 100% four-year graduation rate. It’s also become extremely well-known via the viral videos of college acceptance it publishes of its students, and for the massive donations it receives each year. This year The New York Times reports that it has received over $250,000 in donations.
2. Six Students, Both Current and Former, Told The NYT That Mr. Landry Actively Told Them to Lie on Their College Applications
To The New York Times, half a dozen student said that Mr. Landry, the founder of the school, told them to flat out lie on their applications. In exchange for their “loyalty,” Landry would provide lavish recommendations, and even provide high grades for the students in advanced classes that they never actually took.
One student, Raymond Smith Jr., who graduated from the prep school in 2017 and is now enrolled at NYU, said that Landry forced him to over-dramatize his father’s absence in his life.
Smith said, “It’s a good look…[these colleges] getting these bright, high-flying, came-from-nothing-turned-into-something students.”
Another student, Bryson Sassau, only was able to see his St. John’s application this week, via The New York Times. Within his application, there were fraudulent claims that he had been beaten by his parents and that his father didn’t pay child support (Sassau claims he did). Sassau also said that there were several aspects of his academic transcript that were entirely false, including some classes he never took and an organization called the Dry House that he never founded. He said, “He was pulling all of the information out of thin air.”
3. Students Reportedly Endured Mental & Physical Abuse While Attending School at T.M. Landry
It wasn’t just fraudulence that may have occurred at T.M. Landry school; there was also a culture of mental and physical abuse, according to NYT interviews with 46 people associated with the school.
There are court documents showing that Landry and one other teacher have faced legal charges for violence against students and even a police record for multiple witness statements alleging that Landry hit his students. In 2013, Landry was sentenced to probation and anger management courses after pleading guilty to one count of battery. He insisted to the NYT that he didn’t actually plead guilty or receive probation.
In response to those allegations, Landry said that he could often be rough, and that he encouraged students to compete and be aggressive because that’s how the world works. “Oh, I yell a lot,” he said, adding,“I don’t do that anymore.”
More than half a dozen students told the NYT that they had personally witnessed Landry choking students, slamming them on desks, and in one particularly upsetting incident, locking an autistic child in a closet. Landry did not speak directly to those accounts.
4. Mr. Landry Claimed to Have ‘Special Relationships’ With Elite Universities Across the World- Those Universities Have Denied This
In addition to encouraging his students to commit fraud with their college applications, Landry falsely told prospective families that he had special connections with the best universities in the world.
In a response, a Harvard spokeswoman said, “Alleged statements made by Mr. Landry seriously misrepresent his relationship, and that of the T.M. Landry School, with the Harvard College admissions office.”
Other colleges and universities that denied a “special relationship” with T.M. Landry include, Dartmouth, Stanford, Wesleyan, Cornell, NYU, and St. Johns.
5. The Outcome of T.M. Landry Students Is a Mixed Bag
If this isn’t disturbing… the man did this IN FRONT of the @nytimes reporter. TM Landry needs to be shut down! #tmlandry #SHUTITDOWN #Louisiana
While some of the students who graduated from T.M Landry have fared well at their elite universities, others have struggled. One NYU student had to drop out due to the increasing pressure of student loan debt, and yet another student currently at Brown is doing well and just accepted a pre-doctoral program offer.