Testimony from commission on Illinois admissions

CHICAGO -- The commission investigating admissions at the University of Illinois has finished for the day, with testimony from two of the three scheduled witnesses.

UI Trustee Ken Schmidt and former board Chair Larry Eppley testified before the Admissions Review Commission.

Schmidt said he was upset when he was not appointed board chair in 2003, and Eppley was named chair instead.

"What upset me the most," Schmidt said, was "I know of no time when the governor reached inside the board to do this."

He said he sensed that some university decisions made by Eppley and UI President B. Joseph White should've been made collectively by board.

Earlier Tuesday, Eppley testified he did not “pal around” or act as go-between between former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the university.

In his opening statement, Eppley also said he did not give directions, bargain or negotiate jobs for admissions to the UI.

“As sensational as it seems now,” Eppley said, his admissions inquiries seemed "benign" at the time.

Eppley is testifying before the Admissions Review Commission, appointed by Gov. Pat Quinn and chaired by former federal judge Abner Mikva.

Questioned about his early years on the board, Eppley said he met with Blagvojevich's chief of staff, Lon Monk, and Champaign native and Blagojevich fund-raiser Chris Kelly after Blagojevich was elected in November 2002.

Before Eppley was chosen to chair the UI board, Monk reportedly asked him if he would consider being chair.

One of the commissioners says to Eppley, "You passed along these (admissions) requests without thinking whether or not this was ethical."

Gov. Pat Quinn's counsel Theodore Chung says to Eppley: you were elected UI board chair at the request of former governor's administration.

Eppley said he did not talk to Chancellor Richard Herman about jobs for law school graduates in exchange for admissions.

"I never had a conversation with Richard Herman about jobs and law school candidates," Eppley said.

 

 

 

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