How much noise, do you suppose, the Supreme Court, lapdog press and "sympathetic" firemen will make over the negative action admissions policy at U of I:
" ... Well-connected students had their own formal designation in the undergraduate admissions office - they were known as "Category I" ... "
11 kids bumped ahead of 149 peers
E-mail shows how clout aided students
Chicago Tribune
July 6, 2009
A Feb. 13, 2007, e-mail shows 11 candidates from the University of Illinois clout list were admitted to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, even though the university ranked their applications lower than 149 of their high school classmates.
When an admissions officer questioned the orders, he was told to admit the students on the list. The 11 students were accepted while their more qualified classmates were denied or wait-listed.
Well-connected students had their own formal designation in the undergraduate admissions office -- they were known as "Category I" -- and also got special preference in graduate and some professional program admissions, the Chicago Tribune has reported as part of an ongoing investigation.
Just how weak were the academic records of some clout-listed students compared to their classmates?
CONNECTED CANDIDATES ADMITTED BEFORE CLASSMATES
A Feb. 13, 2007, e-mail shows 11 candidates from the clout list were admitted to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, despite the fact that the university ranked their applications lower than dozens of their high school classmates. How it broke down at each school:
Glenbrook North applicant: 26 students above him denied or wait listed Deerfield applicant: 16 students above him denied or wait listed
* Fenwick applicant: 14 students above her denied or wait listed
* St. Rita applicant: 4 students above him denied or wait listed St.
* gnatius applicant: 19 students above him denied or wait listed
* Fenwick applicant: 13 students above her denied or wait listed
* Highland Park applicant: 24 students above him denied or wait listed
* Loyola Academy applicant: 42 students above him denied or wait listed
* Benet Academy applicant: 27 students above her denied or wait listed
* Highland Park applicant: 23 students above him denied or wait listed
* Highland Park applicant: 20 students above him denied or wait listed
ADMISSIONS OFFICIAL WARNS OF FALLOUT AT HIGH SCHOOLS
The numbers seemed so alarming to an admissions officer, he even double checked his boss¹ order to send the students acceptance letters. The applicants were admitted anyway‹and 149 suburban students were left to wonder how a classmate with a weaker application was admitted over them.
"When you asked me to admit all of those students, I had raised concerns that they attended suburban schools where the admit decision could cause possible negative fall out." -- An April 19, 2007, e-mail from admissions officer Abel Montoya to his boss, Keith Marshall
Marshall¹s response: "All the students on the list I sent on February 13th should be admitted or on the list of students to admit after May 1st if necessary."
SOURCES: University of Illinois, Tribune reporting
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-gecko_college-clout_0706jul06-plus,0,4966135.story?obref=obnetwork
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