CHICAGO — Gov. Patrick J. Quinn of Illinois appointed a panel on Wednesday to investigate accusations that the University of Illinois admitted hundreds of applicants based largely on their political connections.
Mr. Quinn said the Admissions Review Commission would look into 800 applicants who, as first reported by The Chicago Tribune, won spots at the university’s Urbana-Champaign campus after intervention from state lawmakers and university trustees. The Tribune said these students, whose names appeared on an internal list, were admitted even though some did not meet the university’s admission standards.
“We want to make sure that the taxpayers, parents and students of Illinois know there is no kind of special process where individuals who have less qualifications are admitted because of their political influence or clout,” Mr. Quinn, a Democrat, said. The University of Illinois, which has three campuses, is considered the state’s most prestigious public university.
The commission, which is to complete its work in 60 days, will be led by Abner Mikva, a retired federal judge and former state legislator and congressman, who had been a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Mr. Mikva said the panel should not be as concerned about meting out punishment as with ensuring that any patronage influence in the university’s admission practices would not be tolerated.
