By: E&P Staff Continuing its investigation into how sub-par applicants with personal connections were admitted to the University of Illinois, the Chicago Tribune is suing the school demanding the applicants grade-point averages and standardized tests scores.
In a lawsuit filed in Sangamon County, Ill., Circuit Court, the Tribune is demanding the U of I immediately fulfill its request under the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the grades and test scores of hundreds of applicants who were on an internal list that won admission chiefly through recommendations of politicians, lobbyists and other well-connected people.
The Tribune said the information it is requesting would be redacted to remove any names or other personally identifying information.
Using the state FOIA to analyze some 1,800 pages of information, the Tribune has produced an ongoing series about the application scandal at the highly competitive university called "Cloud Goes to College."
The U of I has refused to release the grade-point and test score information without the consent of students parents, or the students themselves if they are over age 18.
U of I President B. Joseph White, in a letter to the Tribune, said releasing the information would violate the so-called Buckley Act that protects student records and privacy. The law, also known by the acronym FERPA, prohibits the release of the information even if the individual applicants are not named, the university contends.
The Tribune suit says its request would not violate FERPA.
"We respect the privacy of the students, but we don't believe providing this information violates their privacy. It sheds light on the issue," Tribune Editor Gerould Kern said in an article Wednesday by reporter Antonio Olivo.
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