Shell Game 101
The most complex of grifts takes the same form as the most basic; involving common story lines and standard roles*. Players in this game are:
The Inside Man, or operator
The political appointee university president.
The Mark, or sucker: the target or victim of the grift.
Students, staff, faculty, alumni, donors, the state and broader university community.
The Outside Man, or the Mark’s handler, working in tandem with the Inside Man.
Politicians and political bodies, public figures, political messaging.
The Ropers, responsible for the recruitment and grooming of Marks before handing them over to the Inside and Outside Men
University and affiliated organization boards; boosters, invested parties; politicians and political bodies; alumni and donors and benefactors with financial interests and potential to benefit from university purchasing and investments.
Shills, plants in the crowd hired to give the false sense of a legitimate environment
Including administrative employees, preferred professors, professionals, staff, a student or two, unwitting or not; bent centers; budget and purchasing staff, and Foundation staff overseeing the college or university’s endowment.
The Store, the cultivated environment, with authentic props and the above-listed characters serving in coordinated, rehearsed roles
Say, the President’s Box at a sporting event, or board meeting, or a Foundation Board meeting, or anywhere on campus, or in the general vicinity of, or in discussion of, the university—anywhere “under the brand”.
The Fix, when authoritative and enforcement bodies are compensated to look the other way
Say, boards, media and records departments; ethics commissions, state boards, departments, and offices.
The Score, or kick-backs, tax dodges, real estate grifts, access to the endowment, or/and any number of other plays for campus cash!
*Maurer, David W. 1940. The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man. Indianapolis/New York: Bobbs‑Merrill Co. (Reprinted New York: Anchor Books, July 20, 1999).
