How Illinois Speaker Used Influence in Admissions

The Chicago Tribune, which broke the story last year about the "clout" list that enabled the politically connected to have preferences in University of Illinois admissions, is now reporting on who was helped by Michael Madigan, the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. According to the Tribune, only 5 of the 28 applicants he helped in three recent years lived in Madigan's district, and many "would not have been admitted on their own merit." In one case, three relatives of a major donor to Madigan enrolled -- two of them after having first been wait-listed and one after being given the admissions office's lowest rating.