U. of Ill. dean traded admissions for scholarships

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- A former University of Illinois Law School dean agreed to admit well-connected applicants pushed by the university's current chancellor in exchange for more than $300,000 in scholarship money for the law school, according to documents released Wednesday.

In a 2003 e-mail to a colleague, then-Law School Dean Heidi Hurd talks about pressure from Chancellor Richard Herman, who was then provost, to consider "special admits." She said she was working to limit the entry of such students and "extract payment" for those she couldn't keep out.

Other documents show the law school billed the provost's office for just more than $300,000 in scholarship money, which Hurd said came from Herman's discretionary funds, between 2004 and 2007.

Herman did not return a call from The Associated Press Wednesday night.

On Wednesday in Chicago, Hurd told a special commission created by Gov. Pat Quinn to investigate University of Illinois admissions with political connections that she opposed the clout system but didn't feel she had many options for fighting it.

"I didn't think I had the authority to say no," said Hurd, who remains on the law school's faculty after stepping down as dean in 2007. "I was pushing back, but I ultimately thought they had the authority."

Hurd told commission members she used the scholarship money to entice applicants with better credentials who could offset underqualified students' negative impact on the law school's standings.

Paul Pless, assistant dean of law school admissions, advised Hurd in a 2007 e-mail that 24 politically connected students admitted during the previous four years had, on average, lower GPAs and test scores coming in and lower grades once they got there. The average GPA for the well-connected students was 2.86, well below the 3.2 average of all law students.

The special commission was formed after the Chicago Tribune reported on the university's use of a "Category I" clout list in May. The list - which has existed for decades and was set up to track applicants recommended by trustees, lawmakers, donors and others - has since been suspended and President Joseph White has pledged to cooperate with the investigation.

White said in a Wednesday statement that he plans to testify before the commission.

"Our goal as a University is to fully air the problems with our current admissions practices so that we can take corrective action and ensure public confidence in our admissions process going forward," White said.

The revealing of the list also has led the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago to subpoena University of Illinois, as well as Southern Illinois University and Northern Illinois University, for any evidence ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to influence student admissions.

The University of Illinois confirmed Wednesday that it has submitted the first of its targeted documents, but may well submit more.

The university provided the documents turned over so far - 220 pages of e-mails and other information - in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Associated Press.

They included a handful of inquiries made by Blagojevich on behalf of students, some through university Trustee Lawrence Eppley. The students' names were redacted.

Passing along one candidate to Law School officials in 2006, Herman wrote: "Straight from the G. My apologies."

Also among the documents are what appear to be standard letters of recommendation on behalf of applicants from politicians including then Sen.-elect Barack Obama, Sens. Dick Durbin and John McCain, former Sen. John Edwards and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. There was no suggestion any of the letters were in any way inappropriate.

In other commission testimony Wednesday, Stacy Kostell, director of admissions, testified that in the 2008-2009 academic year, there were 160 applicants on the clout list, of which about 70 were admitted on their own merit.

Another 33 were initially denied, but admissions officials were overruled by the university, and the students were accepted. The entire class had about 17,000 students.

Kostell became emotional as she defended her office's work.

"It's been so overblown in the media, that the admissions process doesn't have integrity, but it really does," she said tearfully, adding that she disagreed with the acceptance of the 33 applicants. "That doesn't mean the whole system is corrupt."