The Chicago Tribune's investigation into the University of Illinois has now reached State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Giannoulias' adviser Endy Zemenides allegedly helped get a student off the wait list and into school and in turn, a Greek Orthodox priest, a family friend of the student who had reached out to Zemenides, held a fundraiser for Giannoulias that earned over $120,000. Giannoulias is currently eyeballing a run at Sen. Roland Burris' senate seat. His campaign distanced Giannoulias from the student, saying he knew nothing of the request, and Giannoulias has not been connected to any other student on the list. more ›

In it's battle to obtain documents from the University of Illinois in connection with their investigation of the Clout College Controversy, the Chicago Tribune has stumbled upon a strange example of what they allege to be shenanigans: Ron Santo. While Santo has nothing at all to do with the controversy, it seems the school blacked out Santo's name in documents it handed over to the Trib which the Trib claims "violated the spirit of the law," in terms of their investigation. According to the Tribune's story: more ›

The Tribune isn't taking the battle for applicant data in the case of the University of Illinois's clout list lightly. Last week, they ran a list of state legislators complete with statistics on how many students each has helped. Now, they've filed suit against the University for the release of applicant data, including, "the immediate release of grade point averages and standardized test scores of the hundreds of college applicants placed on an internal list of well-connected students." School spokesman Tom Hardy said, "The university believes it has a strong legal case and we are prepared to make it." more ›

When we mentioned the Trib's investigation into a "clout list" for admissions to the University of Illinois, several readers expressed what's best described as a lack of shock. Pulling strings to gain admittance to a college is certainly nothing new, but if Governor Quinn has his way, it'll soon be a thing of the past. Yesterday, Quinn announced a new seven-member "clout commission" to investigate the shenanigans going on at the University of Illinois which will be led by retired federal Judge Abner Mikva. The panel will be able to investigate the list and must issue a report to the governor within 60 days. Per the Tribune: more ›