Politicians exerted their influence at the University of Illinois to boost admissions prospects for the relatives of lobbyists, fundraisers, a union leader and other connected applicants, a Tribune investigation has found. The first broad analysis of who benefited from the school's clout lists shows that a number of lawmakers championed applicants whose relatives donated to their campaigns or represented groups that regularly made political contributions. Family members of at least three lawmakers also were part of the now-abandoned secret system, known as Category I, a separate admissions track that allowed some subpar students to get admitted to the state's flagship university.
Two questions:
- Is this practice relevant as the Supreme Court reconsiders whether affirmative action is constitutional or not in college admissions?
- George Leef would say that this is yet another example of why the State should not be involved in funding universities--is he right?
1. I do not believe that this practice is particularly relevant to affirmative action. Affirmative action is in reference to an applicant being accepted in order to fulfill a quota, or falsely cater diversity. I believe these individuals who are being accepted because of their parents positions need to be taken care of, but it is an entirely separate issue from affirmative action.
ReplyDelete2. While for the most part, I do agree with Leef's assertion that State's should not fund universities, I do not belief that this particular situation helps back up his argument. When noting problems in a University, one has to note those that have the greatest effect on the largest number of people. Affirmative action is a problem that plagues students across the United States, as they are not accepted into Universities because less-qualified minorities take their places. This for mentioned issue at the University of Illinois (to our knowledge) is a isolated incident, and does not involve very many people; and therefore does not justify an argument that the State should not fund universities.
- David Coleman Tate