 University of Illinois admissions practices have faced scrutiny from
Gov. Pat Quinn and others after the Chicago Tribune reported last
month that officials kept at least 800 applicants for admission,
typically those recommended by politicians, on a separate "Category
I" list."This was strictly a matter of identifying some e-mails
that hadn't been brought forward previously," University of Illinois
spokesman Thomas Hardy said of the documents' release. The
university turned them over to the governor's commission
investigating the matter.
The list and ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich's role in pushing for
connected students' admission also has attracted attention from U.S.
Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who already is prosecuting the Democrat
for political corruption.
The e-mails, which date back to July 2004, show frequent
correspondence between officials including then-College of Law Dean
Heidi Hurd, Chancellor Richard Herman and Paul Pless, the law
school's dean for admissions and financial aid. Hurd is now a
professor at the university.
In one May 2006 exchange, Hurd asks Herman, "Have we done all you
want/need to do on this at our end? Any more phone calls to make
influential people just to make sure they feel the love? Or can we
go ahead with the normal admissions process?"
Herman answers that he's trying to check with trustee Naranjin
Shah about one candidate Shah is interested in.
Messages were left Thursday evening at the chancellor's and
trustees' offices for Herman and Shah. Calls to Hurd's office and a
telephone listing in Champaign rang unanswered. Shah's home number
was unlisted.
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University trustees held an hourslong, closed-door meeting Thursday
to discuss the messages. Trustee David Dorris said the e-mails were
brought to the board's attention Wednesday night.
Dorris said he is "very disturbed" by the messages, particularly
those involving one underqualified, well-connected student who was
admitted to the College of Law in 2006, the same year his son was
wait-listed. Dorris didn't name the student.
Fitzgerald has subpoenaed any communication Blagojevich and four
former associates had regarding student applications at the
University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University and Northern
Illinois University.
A relative of convicted political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko
reportedly was admitted to Illinois, angering lawmakers. Some
politicians have called for resignations of anyone involved.
President Joseph White has since suspended the Category I list
but has called it a common tool used on the flagship-university's
campus in Urbana-Champaign to track a small number of inquiries from
politicians and others.
"Going forward, I want to make 100 percent sure that our people
know that they are not to succumb to pressure to do those things,"
White said last month.
[Associated Press]
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