U of Ill. trustees OK president’s resignation after scandal, appoint temporary replacement

U of Ill. trustees OK president’s resignation

URBANA, Ill. — Trustees at the University of Illinois have accepted the resignation of the school’s president in the wake of an admissions scandal.

Joseph White will officially leave his job at the end of this year.

The trustees also named former university president Stanley Ikenberry as the temporary replacement for White. Ikenberry was president at the University of Illinois from 1979 through 1995.

The university has been caught up in a scandal over political influence affecting which students are admitted. Officials kept a special list of applicants who got special treatment based on who they knew.

In at least one case, White passed along an admissions request from then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.