In politics, appearances matter a lot. In Illinois politics, they matter even more.

It may have been tough for him to swallow, but Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard did the right thing this week by announcing that his granddaughter will not accept a full-ride, four-year scholarship to attend SIU's Carbondale campus this fall.

Poshard found himself in the midst of a public controversy when it was disclosed that Maddy Poshard, who recently graduated from Riverton High School near Springfield, was one of 24 students selected to receive the merit-based scholarship worth $80,000.

This being Illinois, the land of corruption, alarm bells immediately went off.

How was it, people asked, that Poshard's granddaughter won a full-ride scholarship? Was this another example of the insiders exploiting public resources?

Poshard, who ran for governor but was defeated in 1998 by George Ryan, insisted he had nothing to do with the scholarship award and was not aware of who was serving on the committee that awarded it.

Nonetheless, he and his granddaughter opted to avoid the appearance of favoritism generated by his lofty status at SIU.

From all appearances, Maddy Poshard is an outstanding student. She said she applied for the school's Presidential/Chancellor Scholarship because of her concerns about the cost of a college degree. One of 250 students who applied, Poshard was one of 100 invited for a campus interview.

Terry Harfst, SIU's director of financial aid, insisted Poshard got no special treatment, and that may be true. Then again, he'd be the last person to admit it if she did. Further, it's hard to believe that those in charge of handing out the scholarships were not in some way influenced by the Poshard name.

Speaking for herself, Maddy Poshard said she was grateful for the committee's consideration but felt "it would be best to avoid any further disparagement of SIU and my family."

Circumstances like this pose a problem for people like Maddy Poshard.

If everything was aboveboard, she fell victim to the justifiable suspicion that the award was more business as usual in Illinois. If not, it's the same old story. All things considered, it was best for Poshard and his family to avoid the issue altogether.