Quinn names 2 to U of I board, lets 2 others stay

[August 27, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Gov. Pat Quinn announced Wednesday that he won't fire the two University of Illinois trustees who refused to resign amid an admissions scandal, and he started to rebuild the board with new appointees.

Quinn said trying to remove the holdout trustees would drag the school into a protracted legal battle and he didn't want a "cloud of litigation" hanging over the university. One trustee had vowed to fight Quinn in court.

"That will distract from the important job of the moment, which is reforming everything at the university," the governor said.

As part of that process, Quinn named two new trustees to the university board: businessman Christopher Kennedy, a nephew of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, and former federal prosecutor Lawrence Oliver II. He said he would appoint five more trustees to fill the nine-member board and left open the possibility they could include other trustees who had voluntarily resigned.

A panel investigating the role that clout played in university admissions found that unqualified students were admitted because of political connections and called for all nine trustees to resign. Seven did, but James Montgomery and Frances Carroll have refused, saying they did nothing wrong.

Montgomery said Wednesday that the governor was wise to change his mind.

"When bad things happened during my watch and I have no knowledge of or participation in it, then I should not be responsible for it," said Montgomery, who was not criticized by the panel. "The governor did the right thing and I just congratulate him for it."

Carroll did not return a call seeking comment.

Quinn drew criticism by others for his handling of the scandal, which Illinois Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno said remained unresolved because some trustees were staying on.

"Now we have some trustees who also do not think they did anything wrong who have resigned and maybe would not have resigned had they known that the governor was going to back down," Radogno said.

Quinn created the Illinois Admissions Review Commission after news reports in late May revealed that the university tracked politically connected students through a list known as Category I and that some of those students who weren't qualified were nevertheless admitted to the university's flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign.

The commission suggested that, while the trustees should resign, Quinn could reappoint some who weren't heavily involved in the admissions process.

Five of the trustees who offered their resignations have said they would like to be reappointed.

"I'm going to look at each of those resignation letters and I'm going to look at the records of all," the governor said.

Quinn is counting on the expertise of his new board members to help straighten out the university.

Kennedy, a son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, runs Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. in Chicago. Earlier this month, he announced that he had considered but decided against running for Illinois governor and for the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.

Oliver is chief counsel for investigations at the Boeing Co. He was a member of the Illinois Reform Commission that Quinn appointed to make recommendations about how to clean up state government in the wake of the scandal surrounding former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was removed from office in January after his arrest on corruption charges.

Kennedy was with family in Massachusetts following his uncle's death and was not available for comment. Oliver declined immediate comment through a Boeing spokesman.

[Associated Press; By DEANNA BELLANDI and DAVID MERCER]

David Mercer reported from Champaign.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.