The chairman of the state board reviewing the University of Illinois admissions scandal said Thursday that the school's trustees should offer their resignations en masse to Gov. Pat Quinn.
"Former federal Judge Abner Mikva said he will make the proposal Friday when the Illinois Admissions Review Commission meets to work on its final report," the Chicago Tribune reports. "Under Mikva's plan, Gov. Pat Quinn could then decide which resignations he wants to accept."
Lawrence Eppley has already resigned - and called up on his fellow trustees to follow suit.
At least one trustee, though, thinks it's a very bad idea.
"I think any calls for a sweeping removal of the entire trustee board is ridiculous," said Trustee James Montgomery. "There's too much institutional knowledge."
Like who to call when you want to clout a kid into the law school?
Getting up to speed shouldn't be difficult for the kind of bright minds who ought to be safeguarding the school's integrity.
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And the governor could always choose to re-appoint any trustees deemed too stuffed with valuable institutional knowledge to lose.
Two former university presidents have also called on at least three trustees to go, naming Robert Vickrey, Ed McMillan and board chairman Niranjan Shah as untenable.
The trustees, of course, were hardly the only villains in this despicable tale. What of the fates of the dissembling university President B. Joseph White and Chancellor RIchard Herman?
And what of the pols who wouldn't even deign to appear before the commission?
The chairman of the state's Democratic party was the most active politician seeking admissions favors but has refused to speak to the review board. That would be Michael Madigan.
The statehouse's other leading Democratic, John Cullerton, has also refused, as has Minority Leader Tom Cross.
Sweeping out the trustees is a good start - but only a start.
Steve Rhodes is the proprietor of The Beachwood Reporter, a Chicago-centric news and culture review.
