The newspaper did not identify the applicant
Friday except to say he was related to Tony
Rezko, the Blagojevich fundraiser convicted of
corruption last year. Blagojevich was impeached
and removed from office in January.
The
Tribune said its story was based on 1,800 pages
of documents obtained through the Freedom of
Information Act.
A university spokesman, Thomas Hardy,
confirmed to The Associated Press that the
school keeps a list of "Category I" applicants
of special interest to lawmakers and others. But
he said questionable admissions were rare.
The Rezko relative was accepted after
University of Illinois President Joseph
White wrote in an e-mail that Blagojevich
"would like to see" him admitted, the Tribune
said.
That was despite an e-mail from an admissions
officer saying the applicant's qualifications
were "actually pretty low. ... Let me know when
the denial letter can go out."
White said Friday he passed along the note
about Blagojevich's interest but didn't mean it
to be interpreted as an order for the admissions
office to admit the applicant.
"I'm putting out a communication today to the
university community that makes it crystal clear
that admissions are to be based on merit only
and that our people are not to succumb to
pressure to admit," White told The Associated
Press.
The Tribune said its review indicated 77
percent of the 800 students placed on the list
since 2005 were accepted for admittance to the
flagship Urbana-Champaign campus.
