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Mikva wants all trustees to resign

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* The hearings aren’t over yet, but Ab Mikva appears to have made up his mind…

The chairman of the state panel investigating admissions abuses at the University of Illinois stepped up his war of words on the school’s trustees this morning, saying they all should submit their resignations. […]

Mikva also linked the trustees to the “pay-for-play” mentality in Springfield, saying some trustees had contributed as much as $100,000 to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He wondered aloud what they thought they were buying.

It probably hasn’t occurred to Mikva that his own defense of Rod Blagojevich against corruption allegations in the 2006 campaign was worth far more than any cash contribution could’ve bought. Mikva allowed Blagojevich to use his good name to be reelected. That was priceless.

Still, after watching this thing unfold, Mikva is probably right about the trustees. They seemed to be of a class that bowed to gubernatorial and legislative authority far too easily.

* Meanwhile, White appears to have learned a lesson as a whole…

University of Illinois President B. Joseph White on Monday told a commission investigating the effect of politics on school admissions that he found an environment in which who you know and what you can offer matter to a shocking degree when he took over at the university in 2005.

And he said the university’s reputation has suffered such a blow because of the role of political clout on campus that he and other university leaders have little choice but to insulate decisions about who gets into school from anyone but admissions officials — barring graduates, donors and anyone else from the process. [emphasis added]

It wasn’t just Rod Blagojevich and legislators representing antsy constituents who twisted arms. The pervasive influence of big donors and prominent alumni probably had more weight for a longer period of time anyway.

* This reform, however, is probably not a good idea…

[Former U of I president James Stukel] said he would support a board that includes only three governor-appointed trustees plus additional trustees selected by the university’s alumni association. Currently, the UI board is made up of nine governor-appointed trustees, plus three students elected from each of the campuses.

The alumni association? You mean the group that White wants to rein in? The group which thought the biggest issue for years was saving that dancing white kid at sports games? Please.

Should we go back to elected trustees?

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 10:49 am

Comments

Absolutely the BOT should be elected. What good is it for Mikva to say that the current BOT should resign if you’re merely replacing Blago cronies with Quinn cronies?

Comment by Fire Ron Guenther Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 10:56 am
It is high time to clean up our state universities anyway. The original intent has been lost years ago, and it has become a place that doesn’t prepare young adults for their future, as much as it has become a place separate from the realities of today.

The tuition costs are questionable. The quality of the professorial staff is questionable. The whole system is imploding from a lack of modernization and politization. As a government body, it needs to be cleaned up and reformed. As an educational institution, it doesn’t really do such a great job anymore.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 10:57 am
=== Should we go back to elected trustees? ====

Yes! and we should require the unverisities to provide an online database of their expenses! including salaries.

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 10:59 am
I agree that the system needs change/reform, but I’m not sure that electing representatives is the answer. I look at those elected to the various community college boards, and see politics and cronyism in some of those ranks, too. Clean up, yes, but how to do so effectively?

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:00 am
who do you think helped elect most of those elected trustees? The alumni Assoc did a great deal to get people elected. But please remember those folks did so because they loved the Univ. and wanted to see it succeed long term. Since they hired Ikenberry and to some extent Stukle who did a great job of running the univ. seems worth reverting back to elected.

Comment by frustrated GOP Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:04 am
Are solely appointed the way to go? No. But are elected trustees that much better? I don’t particularly think so. Would the trustees be beholden to campaign contributors? I think that there has to be a middle ground between straight appointment and straight election. Maybe a commission, with members drawn from across the state, and with input from the governor, General Assembly leaders, etc. and then approval by the Senate. For something as important as the flagship university of this state, maybe it’s time for something different.

Comment by Anon down south Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:09 am
After all this fuss, the whole board should probably resign to clear the air, certainly the Blago appointments. They seemed to be the real hustlers.

The Blago machinations — especially with the law school and jobs — were certainly beyond the scope of a legislator inquiring about a student or putting in a good word.

I don’t think U of I has been terribly harmed by this. I imagine the demand for a spot there is just as high as it’s ever been.

Every university on the planet has always had powerful people seeking to influence how it operates. I doubt if there is a university anywhere that would be shocked at all by 90% of the stuff that’s come out.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:11 am
Rich,
Did you ever figure out the story behind the “Indian Mafia” comment/bad joke?

Comment by Elephant Man Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:12 am
No. Kinda slipped my mind. it’s summer. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:13 am
Electing a university’s board of trustees? If here, why not southern Illinois electing the SIU trustees, and northwest Illinois electing NIU trustees, and Chicago voters electing Chicago State trustees? Same for WIU and EIU?

Wake up folks, Electing the trustees will make them more political, not less so.

The mid-20th Century interest in electing the U of I trustees was in politicians being able to determine the general party orientation of voters, for purposes of redistricting. Trustee candidates were encouraged not to campaign, and non-name non-ethnic candidates maximized the political usefulness of the voting data.

We’ve gone beyond that primitive form of voter identification, so we can let the U of I trustees now run on merit / name recognition / connections.

But I degress. Returning the trustees to the election process will not make them less political process responsive.

Comment by Capitol View Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:13 am
Get rid of White and his three stooges Chancellors who allowed the the clout to be exercised and you don’t have to worry as much about the Trustees. If White, et al, had simply outed the clouting we wouldn’t be going through all of this now. Then we can consider a combo of appointed and elected trustees. The most significant role of elected trustees was that it provided political scientists w/ a way to measure party strength cuz hardly anyone ever voted based upon the individuals. All the literature focused on trustees to determine party strength in conjunction w/ straight party voting (which Pate got rid of).

Comment by Abe's Ghost Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:14 am
How about unifying all the governing boards under one, a la Wisconsin, in order to more efficiently allocate resources and sharpen each school’s mission?

(I know steam is coming up of a lot of ears now; that’s why I said it!)

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:19 am
“Wake up folks, Electing the trustees will make them more political, not less so.”

Seems the opposite has occurred in this instance.

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:20 am
WS is correct, the current Board should resign. That would be the honorable thing to do (does ‘honor’ still exist?). Quinn should suggest it to them as something that should be done for the good of the university.

As far as elections, do we really want to have a bunch of names we don’t recognize on the statewide ballot?

I’ll forgive Mikva because he stood with the AG in trying to remove Blago pre-Burris.

Comment by Bobs yer Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:34 am
Its nice to see an independent investiagtor pursing a hugely biased position during a pending investigation.

I would hate for a call for resignations over ethical issues to come from someone actually adhering to an ethical standard in the conduct of the proceeding.

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:41 am
So alumni who support the school and donors who support the school have no impact on future admissions?

Bye bye checks to the University of Illinois (which is only getting 20% of its funding from the State).

How about race? Can we now exclude race as a factor in admissions as well?

Comment by DuPage Moderate Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:43 am
The elected model is the way to go for the flagship institution.

First, elected members have loyalty to a statewide citizen constituency, and are not as easily dominated by statewide executive officers and legislative leaders. Second, if the nomination process is as it was before, the alumni association engages in an elaborate vetting process for ethical and other factors, and recommends candidates to the state conventions (the conventions did not have to take the association recommendations, but almost always did). Third, running for U of I Trustee is an entirely thankless task. The position is (until now) very little known or understood, and the political set is not much interested in getting involved in the race. The papers insist on endorsment interviews, so the nominees are picked-over by inquiring minds. The result is that only those with a true dedication to the institution want to make that expensive and time consuming effort. The nominating, press endorsment, and election process screens out those with ethics problems, ans assures the elected trustee will be active and knowledgeable. And, it really does not matter which party wins — the candidates have been fully vetted.

The reason why this got changed from elected to appointed, is that a relatively small group of leaders of the alumni association complained that the state conventions sometimes substituted one of their own picks, rather than taking 100% from the association recommendations. Many of these alumni association leaders didn’t think the political party leaders should be involved, and did not like the idea that thier recommended candidates had to engage in a political campaign for the position. Their hope was that a more “distinguished” group could be appointed — people who would not have to run a political campaign, and who would be drawn from the finest corporate and not-for-profit boards. The huge flaw here is that this all relied on the character of the appointing Governor to make good picks. All the protections were thrown out with the bathwater. The advocates of this unfortunate change now regret having made it.

I would not go with an appointment commission or other panel. If there is going to be a selection process, let the political system that the citizens have chosen make the choice.

For the other state universities and the community colleges, an inspector general should do the trick.

Next time I hear someone advocate the Governor appointing the judiciary in Illinois, I am going to bring this up. Can you imagine what our justice system might look like today if they had all been appointed these past 10 years?

Comment by Chad Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:44 am
The goal of removing undue influence with regards to admissions is admirable but will never happen in the real world. Whoever sits on the admissions board will always be sought after to look favorable upon some applications.

The parties speaking on behalf of certain applicants need not be elected officials, influential people, etc. They may merely be friends of the board members, and therefore have access to them.

Comment by MOON Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:44 am
Are we also going to stop admitting kids who don’t qualify but happen to be 6′6″ and run a 4.4 40? Are we going to stop admitting kids who can barely spell the name of the building on campus their father paid for? Or is our sanctimonious outrage narrow in scope?

Comment by Scooby Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:46 am
Yes, elect, but also, Speaker Madigan must answer for his role in this to The Commission and The Public. Not doing so is the height of arrogance and cowardice.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:50 am
What in the world did White think Herman was going to do with the e-mail he forwarded; ignore it? If White wanted the e-mail ignored, he should have ignored it himself, not forwarded it.

I don’t know Shah, but the idea that Bob Vickery and Larry Eppley are Blago people is the silliest thing I’ve heard in a while.

Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:52 am
–Are we also going to stop admitting kids who don’t qualify but happen to be 6′6″ and run a 4.4 40? –

If you can find a kid like that and he can catch a football, I hope he’d be admitted. And I’d like to be his agent!

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:56 am
Naturally none of this ever happens at any other school at any level. Legacy issues are never part of any educational process. Private high schools never scholarship costs for certain students. Employers never bend their rules to hire a number of employees as a favor for a large customer. Members of the GA never do favors for lobbyists. Churches never try to influence local decisions. Hospitals never hire a physician to please a large medical practice. That stuff only happens at U of I.

Comment by zatoichi Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:59 am
Just make Zook and Self (or whoever the 4 letter coach is now) the trustees. It will simply be another mess to clean up.

Comment by Wumpus Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:01 pm
Rich asks, “Should we go back to elected trustees?”

Yes. Nonpartisan.

Or, if we don’t go back to electing them enforce 2/3rds Senate approval on any appointees. Stagger the terms and put in reasonable term limits (not so short that a gov is constantly appointing new people). Give the legislature power to impeach (which may not have any effect seeing as how legislators were involved here too).

While you’re at it, stop electing judges. Appoint them.

Comment by Rob_N Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:07 pm
=== While you’re at it, stop electing judges. Appoint them. ====

And who would get to make the decision? i.e. which interest grp?

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:16 pm
Ghost, we don’t elect Federal judges. Make the state process the same.

There is an inherent conflict of interest when judges are elected because they then have to raise funds in order to campaign for election.

(Hence my caveat that if U of I trustees are going to continue to be appointed put a rigorous confirmation and impeachment process in place. Same for appointing judges.)

Comment by Rob_N Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:20 pm
Just reflecting: When you consider all the thieves, scoundrels, ne’er-do-wells and reprobates who have populated Illinois politics during my lifetime, is not Abner Mikva the embodiment of what a public servant should be? A keen intellect, an unstinting devotion to the public good, willingness to question and challenge authority.

Whatever your politics compared to Mikva’s, he’s a man among boys. A mensch if ever there was one.

Maybe that a QOTD. Are there are any public servants around today who could measure up to Mikva?

Comment by Jim Landis Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:23 pm
And, in fact, did Mikva always measure up to Mikva?

Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:29 pm
The primary function of voting for U of I trustees was to make it easier for legislators to gerrymander their districts.

The current system is fine, we just need to keep an eye on one person, the Governor. Clearly, the message from the top was “use your clout.” Toss the current Board, and put a new one in, it’s not rocket science.

However, speaking as a Saluki, I did enjoy voting for the Communist Party candidates for U of I Trustee, as did many of my fellow students & alums. If we could have built the movement, it would have thrown the gerrymanderers for a loop.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:35 pm
Rob_N, that is already, on paper, the current process.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:35 pm
=== Ghost, we don’t elect Federal judges. Make the state process the same. ====

So whichever party is in control gets to select the judges?

=== There is an inherent conflict of interest when judges are elected because they then have to raise funds in order to campaign for election. ===

Of course those same donors give money to the political parties which have a say in which judges they would be appointing. Not sure this is a solution.

I am concerned that it concentrates too much power into too few hands. I could perhaps be pursudaded to a partisan appointment system if the citizines retained the right to recall or vote out judges.

There have been a numbner of judges blocked from positions or placed in positions as political rewards etc in the feneredl system, I am not convinced that is an improvement over an election.

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:41 pm
To the sports haters in this commentary: Stick to the argument at hand. You are branching into a different territory entirely. Student-athletes who bring revenue into the athletic department and work hard in a tangible way to represent their University proudly in athletic competition do not deserve to be compared to some rich-kid flunkies who want to get into the school because daddy give big dollars to some corrupt politician (which doesn’t provide any benefit or service to the school itself whatsoever).

Comment by BigDog Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 12:52 pm
===To the sports haters in this commentary===

Would you care to be more specific? I don’t see any “sports haters” here. Methinks you’re purposely bloviating to silence opposition.

The bottom line, like it or not, is that academically underqualified athletes are taking positions that could’ve gone to more academically qualified applicants. That is the essential topic here.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 1:02 pm
The sports issue haws nothing to do with the governance issue.

The federal judicial appointment process is well-run due to its long history, and would be pretty hard to re-create for occasional volunteer board appointments.

Let’s just go with the track record. The elected boards did a fairly good job of oversight, and didn’t meddle in day-to-day operations. The political process of their elections and the education required to get by the vetting and editorial boards assured thet they understood their roles. There are a few exceptions, but overall the elected trustees were a pretty dedicated and effective bunch. And, since they were better known and more accessible, they were much more likely to hear about genuine operations problems, and bring these to the attention of the President for consideration and action.

I’m certain they got occasional phone calls from favor-seekers — like all statewide elected officials do. The difference is that they could push-back on these matters fairly easily. They did not have to “do favors” for peop0le to establish their turf, authority, or prestige as trustees. They were elected officials and acted like it.

Comment by Chad Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 1:23 pm
Rich,

I guess it was only one comment in this particular set of comments (Scooby) that caught my eye. My frustration with this issue may be partially due to having seen comments directed toward athletes in lots of other commentaries to the endless stream of Tribune articles on this topic. I just feel that it is an entirely separate issue, and if you want to begin on that topic, you will be talking not specifically about the University of Illinois, but pretty much every Division 1 school in the country.

Comment by BigDog Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 2:33 pm
=== Did you ever figure out the story behind the “Indian Mafia” comment/bad joke? ===

Most likely this.

Convicted killer and American Indian Mafia member Leonard Peltier, now serving life sentences for murdering two Federal Agents, attracted a worldwide following of supporters including Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, the Dali Lama, Amnesty International, Robert Redford and many from the entertainment industry, and several politicians who have labeled Peltier a “political prisoner.” President-elect Obama has been asked to grant Peltier clemency.

Comment by Yellow Dog Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 2:56 pm
=== Student-athletes who bring revenue into the athletic department…do not deserve to be compared to some rich-kid flunkies who want to get into the school because daddy give big dollars to some corrupt politician ===

By that logic, expedited admissions for the politically-connected should be welcomed.

State government puts more money into public universities than all of the ticket sales combined, and the U of I’s most important audience is the 177 members of the Illinois General Assembly plus the Governor, not the tens of thousands who pack Assembly Hall or Memorial Stadium.

Comment by Yellow Dog Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 3:02 pm
Rich, except for the 2/3rds Senate approval (a simple majority is what I read) and the impeachment clause (I couldn’t find anything related to that).

–

Ghost, yes, partisan appointments are exactly what happen now.

It still leads to some issues re conflicts of interest (just look at Bush v Gore and how many SCOTUS Justices were family friends of the Bushes).

But, at least the apptd judges are not taking money from anyone to obtain the seat.

Comment by Rob_N Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 3:47 pm
PS Rich, let me also add that if they’re going to continue to be appointed we should try to attain a bit of geographical balance.

Comment by Rob_N Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 3:49 pm
Personally — I think that the REAL reason U of I trustees stopped being elected statewide was because some feared that it would work to leverage new parties into statewide races.

Even today, if you get 5% in a statewide race, your party becomes “established”. (Hence the current Green Party presence.)

And if the Cupcake Party, or the Twinkie Party, or the Let’s-Have-A-Party, or any of the other usual suspects (Libertarians, Socialists, Constitution, ad nauseum) were to poll five percent in a statewide U of I trustee race (see Pot Calling Kettle’s comment about voting for the Communist Party candidate for trustee), well….that ain’t what the Repubs and Dems would want, now, is it?? (Competition??? Perish the thought!)

I like Rob N’s suggestion: U of I trustees should be elected statewide on a nonpartisan basis.

Comment by Dooley Dudright Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 4:03 pm
The Trib reports that Larry Eppley is resigning. One trustee down…

Comment by Secret Square Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 4:04 pm
GOV. QUINN,

Please do not forget the other state school trustees that need to be relieved of their duties. Especially the 50k club at SIU that unequivocally care more about their own interests than the school interest. If you find it in your heart, Poshard can be also terminated as many people in the SIU community view him as a hack President. It is good to have a political sense as President but you want someone who is an educator and academic first. Not someone who is a political animal like Poshard.

I would support trustees elected by alumni and students together. Let’s get it done and get some competent people who care about our universities.

Comment by Pam Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 4:15 pm
Globetrotters Engineering (Chicago) has lots of state contracts that began with Blagojevich. Shah is Globetrotters.

Comment by In the Sticks Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 5:54 pm
Sticks, Globetrotters has had “lots of State contracts” since Thompson. AA has no opinion on the quaility of the firm but was/is stunned by the bad judgment of Team Blago in appointing a walking conflict of interest like Shah to a major board position.

I don’t know that rushing back to elected trustees is warranted. Yet. I do agree that one way or another, all of Blago’s Board appointments and the entire administrative chain of command implicated in this fiasco must be removed.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 8:40 pm
To those who think electing trustees will solve the problem, let me relate this story. I am a U of I professor. My department head was contacted by a trustee to ask him to let the son of his friend skip a prerequisite so he could graduate early.

The trustee was Tom Lamont. He was elected. And he was “fully vetted” by the alumni association.

What we need are not more wealthy trustees who get the position by making big contributions to the Governor or the Alumni Association. We need EDUCATORS to run our state’s largest educational institution. Educators never get selected because they cannot afford the entrance fees (i.e. big money donations).

Comment by Jay Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 8:58 pm
Hospitals stopped hiring doctors to run them and started hiring hospital administrators. Paul Vallas was arguably the best Chicago school superintendent in recent times (though Duncan certainly did a good job), and Vallas wasn’t an educator.

I am skeptical that we need more educators administering universities.

Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, Jul 28, 09 @ 11:54 pm
Saw Juice, Benn and the Blue and Orange spring scrimmage at Oak Park River Forest High School. The offense looked great, the defense, not so much.

I don’t like Martez playing the Mike linebacker. He should play Sam, and chase down those quarterbacks on passing downs.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jul 29, 09 @ 10:45 am