Jul 8, 2009 6:33 pm US/Central
Former Law Dean Testifies About Clout At U Of I
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
The former dean of the University of Illinois College of Law testified Wednesday that students she was forced to admit because of clout didn't take spots away from more qualified applicants.
Heidi Hurd testified before a state commission formed by Gov. Pat Quinn to investigate the role political clout played in the university's admissions process. The commission, led by former federal Judge Abner Mikva, is due to issue a report next month.
Hurd acknowledged that the university forced the law school to take politically connected students who otherwise would have been rejected, but she said those applicants were added only after admissions officials had selected a full class of students.
"My boss was making decisions I thought whip-sawed my agenda," Hurd said.
Her agenda, she said, was to put Illinois near the top of nationally ranked law schools. Hurd insisted students with lower test scores and lower grades pushed Illinois down in the ranking.
The decision to admit the students came in the form of an e-mail.
"The text of the e-mail was 'The following law decisions have been made - admit, deny,'" Hurd said.
One of those making the decision, Hurd testified, was U of I Chancellor Richard Herman. Hurd said Herman admitted one underqualified student on behalf of university Trustee Larry Eppley, who was representing then governor Rod Blagojevich.
Herman himself testified he then tried to get five jobs for law school graduates from Eppley.
Hurd called it a gubernatorial fiat.
"I was incensed with Trustee Eppley and I was incensed with Chancellor Herman for not muscling back under what seemed to me a clear exercise of fiat; unethically so," Hurd said.
She told commission members that she opposed the clout system but didn't feel that 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 from the dean's post in 2007. "I was pushing back, but I ultimately thought they had the authority."
After being forced to admit underqualified students, Hurd sought and received scholarship money from the university that she used to entice applicants with better credentials who could offset the negative impact of clout on the law school's standings, she said.
The university's clout list, dubbed "Category I" by officials, has existed for decades and was set up to track applicants who were recommended by trustees, lawmakers and donors, among others.
After the Chicago Tribune reported on the "Category I" list in May, the university suspended its use, and President Joseph White has pledged to cooperate with the investigation.
The law school had its own tracking system for applicants, which has also been suspended, officials said.
Paul Pless, assistant dean of law school admissions, testified before the panel Monday that over four years, the university forced the College of Law to admit 24 politically connected students. During that time, about 900 students were admitted overall.
Pless said the number of forced admissions gradually tapered off after peaking in 2006, and that there haven't been any this year.
The current dean said he not accept students from a clout list.
"I would rather tender my resignation of the deanship than do something unethical or for that matter admit a student I thought was unqualified," law school Dean Bruce Smith said.
CBS 2's Jim Williams and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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