During the last eight weeks, a state panel created to unravel the University of Illinois’ admissions scandal heard nearly 40 hours of testimony from three dozen people and scoured more than 5,000 pages of documents. The Admissions Review Commission is to wrap up its work Thursday when it forwards recommendations to Gov. Pat Quinn.
The governor created the panel in the wake of revelations about “Category I,” an internal U. of I. designation that gave special attention to clouted applicants. The baiduhai reported on May 29 that more than 800 undergraduate applicants and dozens of graduate and law school candidates got preferential treatment during the last five years because they had well-connected patrons.
In some cases, unqualified students gained entry after their denials were overturned at the behest of elected officials, university trustees or influential donors, according to internal e-mails and university records made public under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Those who benefited included relatives of a city alderman, political contributors to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaigns and the ex-governor’s recently convicted fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
“It was a completely independent system that operated without regard to academic record or academic potential, but just based on who you know,” Commissioner Zaldwaynaka “Z” Scott said.
Here’s a look back at the panel’s investigation:
MAY
May 30: University President B. Joseph White and top administrators pledge to mend the admissions process and restore public confidence even as they downplay the problem, saying it affects only a small number of applicants
“To the extent some problems were pointed out, we can and will correct them.” — University President B. Joseph White
JUNE
June 1: University officials temporarily suspend the use of the clout list. They also indicate they will open the appeals process to all candidates. The university later says it will launch an internal investigation.
June 10: Gov. Pat Quinn appoints a blue-ribbon panel to investigate admissions practices at Illinois’ most selective public university. Retired federal Judge Abner Mikva will chair the seven-member commission.
“We want to make sure our universities … have a process of admissions that is fair and open.” — Gov. Quinn
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June 16: At the panel’s first meeting, commissioners question Keith Marshall, associate provost for enrollment management.
“I think the integrity of the admissions process would be better served if there were no Category I.” — Keith Marshall, associate provost for enrollment management.
June 18: Seeking evidence that Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his political allies sought a leg up for well-connected applicants, federal prosecutors subpoena the University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University and Southern Illinois University.
June 26: Newly released documents reveal favors were sought in exchange for the admission of an under-qualified applicant to the law school. Chancellor Richard Herman forced then-law school Dean Heidi Hurd to admit the relative of a prolific Blagojevich donor in April 2006 while seeking a promise from the governor’s go-between, trustee Lawrence Eppley, that five low-performing law school graduates would get jobs. In an e-mail to the law school dean, Herman writes: “Straight from the G. My apologies. Larry has promised to work on jobs (5). What counts?”
June 29: The state panel questions the U. of I.’s lobbyists about their role in admissions, probing how they came to have access to the computer records system and how far they would push admissions requests for state lawmakers. Terry McLennand, assistant director for state relations, testifies: “To the extent we can answer, help, assist, it helps our relationship with the General Assembly.”
JULY
July 6: Herman, who served as the intermediary between the admissions office and powerful patrons seeking to get students in, calls for an end to such favoritism during his testimony.
I deeply regret that and firmly believe the system for handling external inquiries must be reformed.” — Chancellor Richard Herman in testimomy
July 8: Commissioners probe the use of clout in law school admissions and the proposed exchange of jobs for admission. Former Dean Hurd contends that Blagojevich, Herman and Eppley abused their power. She defends her part in the e-mails as using “sarcasm to try and shake someone who had not been shaken by serious analysis.” But Hurd’s successor, Dean Bruce Smith, testifies that he would quit rather than cave to that kind of pressure.
July 13: Former U. of I. leader–two chancellors and two presidents–lay blame for the admissions scandal at the feet of school trustees. The group says in a letter to the commission that outside pressure is not new, but the administration’s response is a break with the past. Joyce Smith, chief executive of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, tells the commission that same day the U. of I.’s systematic process for handling outside admissions requests is what sets it apart from the norm.
“The magnitude at the University of Illinois is what shocks me.” — Joyce Smith, chief executive of the National Association for College Admission Counseling
July 14: The commission hears from two of the university’s longest-serving trustees–Eppley and Kenneth Schmidt–about Blagojevich’s behind-the-scenes influence. Schmidt says the Blagojevich team chose Eppley to chair the board in 2003, a decision Schmidt learned about from one of the governor’s top political fundraisers, Christopher Kelly. Eppley denies serving as the governor’s intermediary, but says he forwarded up to four admissions inquiries a year from Blagojevich’s inner circle.
“I don’t know of any time where a previous governor had reached in and gotten so involved in a decision.” — U. of I trustee Kenneth Schmidt
July 22: The president of the University of Illinois Foundation, Sidney Micek, defends the use of clout in admissions, telling the state panel it is important for school officials to know which applicants have ties to big donors.
“In the end, it’s up to the university to decide what it values.” — Sidney Micek, president of the University of Illinois Foundation, in testimony
July 23: Trustees issue a statement pledging to end admissions abuses days after the U. of I. commissioned a poll to test responses to the scandal–including a public apology and the resignation of several trustees.
July 27: White calls for a change in the admissions policy, but not a change in leadership during his testimony before the state panel. He borrows from a plan by the school’s lawyers that suggests ending clout lists and naming an ombudsman to field admissions inquiries.
“Our policy should be for everybody above the dean level to get the heck out of admissions.” — University President B. Joseph White, in testimony
July 28: Eppley resigns from the university’s board and calls on other trustees to do the same. He also urges campus administrators to accept responsibility for their role. “It was the exactly the right thing to do,” Commissioner Ric Estrada says of Eppley’s resignation. “The only thing I regret is that he didn’t do it sooner.”
July 29: College of Medicine Dean Joseph Flaherty testifies about firewalls used to prevent nepotism or patronage there, including a 25-member admissions committee. “You’re doing it right and you’re the first person I know of who is doing it right,” Mikva says.
July 31: The commission votes 6-1 to call for the entire board of trustees to submit their resignations and allow Quinn to decide who should remain in the powerful posts. But it refrains from making the same demand of the university’s top administrators, White and Herman.
AUGUST
Aug. 3: U. of I. board Chairman Niranjan Shah resigns, saying a favor-driven admissions practice that was permissible in the past is not acceptable in the current political climate.
“Today, I recognize that those rules are changing with the times, and I think that change is a very good thing.” — U. of I. board Chairman Niranjan Shah
Aug. 6: Commission is expected to release its final report. Quinn then decides whether to pursue the recommendations.
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