Admissions Official: "Clout List" Set Some Students Up For Failure

A former admissions official at the University of Illinois testified Monday that the school should discontinue use of a special system for admitting politically connected students, saying there were students the office "wanted to deny, who we were told to admit."

Abel Montoya told the state's Admissions Review Commission that his job was to track the list, which contained between 150 and 165 students -- most from affluent high schools in the Chicago suburbs -- in the last few years.

He also said there were twice yearly meetings, just before the December and February admissions notification deadline, during which university officials discussed the so-called "Category I" list on a case-by-case basis.

Montoya said he complained to his superiors and thought they were setting up some students for failure.

"With the 'Category I' students, sometimes I failed to see what they brought to the table," Montoya said. "There were certain students who I felt were not going to do well on our campus. That's the reason I would do away with the system."

Montoya worked in the admissions office at the flagship Champaign-Urbana campus for 14 years before voluntarily leaving his final post, as associate director, in October 2008.

The university has come under fire since the Chicago Tribune last month revealed the existence of a list kept by the school of politically connected students favored by lawmakers and trustees. It also reported that ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich intervened to help a relative of convicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko be admitted.

The university has since suspended its list, and president Joseph White has pledged full cooperation a commission created by Gov. Pat Quinn to investigate.

Quinn signed an executive order June 10 that created the seven-member independent panel, headed by former federal judge Abner Mikva. It has 60 days to evaluate admission criteria and investigate instances of favoritism based on political connections at the state-funded university.

Mikva has said the panel plans to call university trustees and donors to testify, as well as University of Illinois officials -- such as the provost and chancellor -- and members of the Illinois Legislature.

During Monday's hearing, Mikva asked Montoya whose request would get a student's application on the list.

"They had to be important, basically," Montoya responded.

Members of the clout list were added by the University of Illinois Foundation, an independent fundraising group, along with deans' offices, the chancellor's office, the university board of trustees, the university president's office and the school's government relations office, Montoya said.

During testimony Monday, Richard Schoell, executive director of the university's Office of Governmental Relations, said his office kept a log of between 150 and 200 requests made each year by lawmakers on behalf of students. Schoell said his office forwarded requests to the appropriate university department and some of those students made the "Category I" list, some labeled "important" or "very important."

He said receiving input from public officials is important and students have the right to appeal to a legislator if they believe a wrong decision was made. But if a student was admitted "purely because of clout, it shouldn't have happened," he testified.

Schoell suggested that instead of lawmakers contacting his office directly, the school hire an ombudsman or create a panel to field those inquiries.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Chicago

Leave Comments