University of Illinois fundraising official defends clout list

A key fundraiser at the University of Illinois defended the use of clout lists in the admissions process, telling a state commission Wednesday that it's important for school officials to know which applicants have ties to big donors.

[Danno]

At Yale they called it a ""legacy admission"" when George W. Bush was admitted due to clout.

[Proud Alum]

Thank you SIdney Micek for having a backbone. It is about time someone stood up for the university.

I have yet to meet an alum who is horrified by this story. Most simply said, "This is the way of the world." It's time the school stopped cowering and stood proud.

[U of I Class of 2004]

Well, I am outraged! This is BUYING one's way into school! People *so* need to STOP making comparisons between private schools like Yale and U of I, too. U of I lives off tax dollars. I do not care who Yale admits, it can admit a chimpanzee for all I care.
Complacency that it is OK to cheat to get into school just feeds into more corruption. Daddy's Little Boy or Girl learns it is OK to cheat to get into school, then they think it is OK to cheat to get a job, then OK to cheat *at* that job, and unless this all stops, the monster continues to grow and we end up with things like Enron, Ponzi schemes, corrupt politicians like Blago, etc., etc.
It is so far worse when those who are supposed to be teaching the next generation of leaders have NO values or morals themselves.
Oh yeah, I would not give Sidney Micek one penny of donor money, EVER.

[U of I Class of 2004]

P.S. Washington Court House, OH is NOT an employer, just one more example of how bizarre Verizon is as an ISP.

[Tin Lizzie]

I'm an alum and I've met plenty of people who are humiliated by this scandal. This isn't going to help -- but at least Micek was honest.

[Full disclosure]

Anyone who doesn't think big donors get a leg up is clueless. They do and always will and in every school. They should too, the Ivy League has been able to guarantee lower income students free college because of big donors. If the Ivy's didn't have those big endowments they wouldn't have been able to offer free educations. Wake up to reality. The only difference here is some people just want the government to take the money in the form of taxes and then give it to the underprivileged.

[scotty]

the fact that these people see nothing wrong with their "process" is just another indication of how bass-akwards everything in illinois remotely related to 'public service' is. if money is not a #1 factor in their decisions, its 1A. They should all be fired and restricted from service on educational boards. This bozo who thinks its alright probably has never worked a day in his life but makes more money in a year than the average student will in his/her career. HANG 'EM

[Craig]

There is value in knowing an applicant's relationship to a large donor. It can be helpful if the University wants to keep the donor in the loop of the applicant's progress. But to use the information as a way to persuade or influence the admissions process smacks as unethical.

[Duo]

Imagine if a politician had said, "I don't see what's wrong with organizing my list of donors into a list to see who my real friends are".

What happens at private universities is one thing. However, this is a state university. This is the people's business. This guy has a lot of chutzpah trying to justify this. The university's top and only true friend is one entity: the public who pays the taxes to run said colleges. Donors do not get "super citizen" status because they laid down some money for their name on a building.

This is about clean hands, and fair dealing with everyone. This cannot be tolerated, because no matter what this fruit loop, or anyone else who defends this says...it's a matter of equity. It's a matter of merit. It's a matter of nobody being "more equal" than someone else. This is affirmative action for the people with money and connections. It does not belong in an institution which is funded, overseen, and administrated by the public, for the public.

Period. End of story.

[John Fischer]

U of I Class of 2004 wrote:

Well, I am outraged! This is BUYING one's way into school! People *so* need to STOP making comparisons between private schools like Yale and U of I, too. U of I lives off tax dollars. I do not care who Yale admits, it can admit a chimpanzee for all I care.
Complacency that it is OK to cheat to get into school just feeds into more corruption. Daddy's Little Boy or Girl learns it is OK to cheat to get into school, then they think it is OK to cheat to get a job, then OK to cheat *at* that job, and unless this all stops, the monster continues to grow and we end up with things like Enron, Ponzi schemes, corrupt politicians like Blago, etc., etc.
It is so far worse when those who are supposed to be teaching the next generation of leaders have NO values or morals themselves.
Oh yeah, I would not give Sidney Micek one penny of donor money, EVER.

I'm glad to see a letter like this and support everything that was stated.

[Sam]

The bigger scam with the UI Foundation is the huge salary that the officers get. In some cases the salry is on toop of already rich pension benefits they get from ther university system.

[kent]

Since this is not a private school it's even a more reprehensible to tie admissions to doners.

[realitybites]

if education was as important as the rhetoric would lead one to believe, it would be funded as such. the % of tax dollars is a constantly shrinking and a significantly smaller part of the U of I budget every single year. it is probably much smaller than some of the commenters know about or want to believe.

[James -- U of I alum]

Proud Alum wrote:

Thank you SIdney Micek for having a backbone. It is about time someone stood up for the university.
I have yet to meet an alum who is horrified by this story. Most simply said, "This is the way of the world." It's time the school stopped cowering and stood proud.

Well I don't know who you've talked to, but I haven't talked to an alum who ISN'T "horrified" by this story. And as someone else on here pointed out -- get straight the difference between Yale, a privately funded school, and U of I, a taxpayer funded school. This is a case of the U of I trying to have it both ways, and they are finding out why it doesn't work.

[James -- U of I alum]

realitybites wrote:

if education was as important as the rhetoric would lead one to believe, it would be funded as such. the % of tax dollars is a constantly shrinking and a significantly smaller part of the U of I budget every single year. it is probably much smaller than some of the commenters know about or want to believe.

Then if one wants to agree with your point, then I suggest we eliminate the tax part of the school's budget, shrink the school, and take it private. Then the issue goes away. But as long as it is a taxpayer supported institution, in part or totally, then the public vs private difference still applies. Again, you can't have it both ways.

[A Concerned Alum]

Of course Sid Micek thinks it is ok. He reports to a highly conservative board at the Foundation--a group of "special" people who have spent most of their lives getting special treatment and special favors.

Moreover, Micek seems a bit out of sink with the university's so-called leadership (trustees, chancellor, president, deans) who all think special admissions are wrong!...NOW THAT THEY HEVE BEEN CAUGHT!

The University of Illinois doesn't need people like those currently in the top leadership positions, nor does the Foundation. The Governor needs to clean house and ASAP.

[Kaibelf]

There's a simple solution to this. If they want to handle things this way, strip them of their public funding. They can't have it both ways.

[Kaibelf]

Danno wrote:

At Yale they called it a ""legacy admission"" when George W. Bush was admitted due to clout.

Yale is private.

[mdra]

you see, it is real important if they're friends of yours and merit really doesn't matter. these people are so twisted and believe this actually. uiuc is really starting to look like a chicago run institution.

[omg]

U of I Class of 2004 wrote:

Well, I am outraged! This is BUYING one's way into school! People *so* need to STOP making comparisons between private schools like Yale and U of I, too. U of I lives off tax dollars. I do not care who Yale admits, it can admit a chimpanzee for all I care.
Complacency that it is OK to cheat to get into school just feeds into more corruption. Daddy's Little Boy or Girl learns it is OK to cheat to get into school, then they think it is OK to cheat to get a job, then OK to cheat *at* that job, and unless this all stops, the monster continues to grow and we end up with things like Enron, Ponzi schemes, corrupt politicians like Blago, etc., etc.
It is so far worse when those who are supposed to be teaching the next generation of leaders have NO values or morals themselves.
Oh yeah, I would not give Sidney Micek one penny of donor money, EVER.

while I don't entirely disagree with you, you are incorrect that U of I, or any other state school in Illinois 'lives' off tax dollars. That is simply not the case. State support for higher education continues to dwindle. Someone please correct me if I'm incorrect with my figures, but I believe only about a third of a university's budget comes from the state, hence the reason for tuition increases and the need for fundraising and cost centers (parking fees, for example).