 And he said the
university's reputation has suffered such a blow because of the role
of political clout on campus that he and other university leaders
have little choice but to insulate decisions about who gets into
school from anyone but admissions officials -- barring graduates,
donors and anyone else from the process.Two of White's
predecessors, meanwhile, told the Illinois Admissions Review
Commission that they'd like to see some of the politically appointed
trustees who oversee the university and its three campuses ousted.
White told commissioners that he'd never seen anything like the
culture of influence and clout at Illinois before he came to the
university from the University of Michigan four years ago.
"I don't know how to describe it," he said during the meeting on
campus in Urbana. "It's an influence environment; it's a quid pro
quo environment."
White told commission members that he plans to kill Category I,
the list of politically connected applicants the university has
maintained at least the past few years.
Gov. Pat Quinn appointed the commission to examine university
admissions after news reports revealed Category I and the admission
of some underqualified members of that list.
The university has released thousands of pages of e-mails in
response to news media requests that detail the handling of
applicants linked to politicians, trustees and others.
White was questioned Monday about an e-mail he forwarded to
Chancellor Richard Herman -- who runs the Urbana-Champaign campus --
and others from trustee Lawrence Eppley indicating that then-Gov.
Rod Blagojevich was backing a particular candidate. That candidate,
who was initially denied admission but later accepted, turned out to
be a relative of Tony Rezko, the convicted political influence
peddler who is a key figure in the federal government's
investigation of Blagojevich.
White told commissioners that he didn't know who Rezko was when
he passed the e-mail along in 2005.
White said he also didn't know that Heidi Hurd, the law school's
former dean, agreed to admit underqualified applicants pushed by
Herman in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in
scholarships.
While White said he believes Herman wanted what was best for the
university, such deal-making at the very least showed poor judgment.
[to top of second column] |
He said he and Herman haven't talked yet about the scholarships or other aspects
of the scandal, but he plans to do so after the commission gives Quinn its
report, which is due by Aug. 8. A message left at Herman's home Monday evening
by The Associated Press was not returned.
White clearly inherited many of the university's problems,
commission chairman Abner Mikva said after Monday's meeting, but
should have asked more questions about the depth and breadth of the
culture of influence he described.
Earlier Monday, former university Presidents James Stukel and
Stanley Ikenberry said they would like to see all nine politically
appointed trustees -- except for Ed McMillan, a Quinn appointee who
joined the board this year -- ousted.
But Stukel also said that might strip the board of needed
experience and said at least three trustees should be removed:
Eppley, chairman Niranjan Shah and Robert Vickrey.
Those three, Stukel told commissioners, are products of
Blagojevich-era politics who owed their jobs and loyalty to the
governor.
Ikenberry pushed commissioners to recommend changes in the
board's makeup. In addition to the nine governor's appointees, three
student trustees are chosen by campus vote for the board.
The commission meets again Wednesday in Chicago.
[Associated Press;
By DAVID MERCER]
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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