 The panel has 60 days to evaluate admission criteria and investigate
instances of favoritism based on political connections at the
state-funded school, whose flagship campus is in Champaign-Urbana.
"This is done ... to make sure the public understands that when
someone is admitted to this institution, it's done on their
abilities and their merit, their qualifications, and that politics,
preferential treatment, undue influence has no role whatsoever to
play," Quinn said at the school's Chicago campus, where he signed an
executive order creating the seven-member Admissions Review
Commission.
U of I has come under fire since the Chicago Tribune last month
revealed a list, kept by the school, of politically connected
students favored by lawmakers and trustees.
It also reported that ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich intervened to help
a relative of convicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko be admitted.
The university has since suspended its so-called Category I list,
and U of I President Joseph White has pledged full cooperation with
Quinn's commission.
"The commission will have access to everybody and everything it
needs to conduct its work," White said in a statement. "Any request
or directive from the commission is to be treated as the highest
priority and responses are to be timely."
Abner Mikva, a former federal judge and congressman who headed a
high-profile review of a 2003 downtown Cook County office building
fire that killed six people, will lead the state investigation.
Other commission members include the head of a community service
agency, business people and a former state executive inspector
general under Blagojevich. Quinn's general counsel, Ted Chung, also
will work with the commission.
[Associated Press]
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