The controversy swirling around the University of Illinois’ admissions process continued to pick up steam today with Gov. Pat Quinn’s announcement of a seven-member group to investigate claims that the campus admitted some students because of their political connections.

“This is a troubling situation,” Quinn said in a statement. “Admission to this great university should be based on merit, never on clout. This Commission is charged with investigating claims of such special treatment and making sure any and all problems are rooted out and corrected.”

Quinn said that the university is expected to “fully cooperate” with the admissions review commission.

In response, University President B. Joseph White issued his own statement saying that he would scrap the task force he had announced more than a week ago and instead focus on cooperating with Quinn’s independent review.

“I am mandating complete and full cooperation with the Commission from every member of the University community,” White said. “The Commission will have access to everybody and everything it needs to conduct its work. Any request or directive from the Commission is to be treated as the highest priority and responses are to be timely.”

These developments come in the wake of revelations by the Chicago Tribune that the Urbana-Champaign campus admitted some students with subpar academic records after lawmakers, trustees, and other prominent people pushed the school to accept them. The school even had a special category to identify these students — known as Category I, also referred to as the “clout list.”

State Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, chairman of the state House Higher Education Committee, has called for White and any trustee who was involved to resign from their positions.

Quinn said his task force will report back in 60 days on not only the claims of favorable treatment, but also to make recommendations for improvements to the university’s admissions procedures as a whole.

The task force will be led by retired federal judge Abner Mikva. The other panelists include lawyers, former journalists, and other prominent citizens. Theodore Chung, Quinn’s general counsel, will assist the panel.

“We all have a stake in the University of Illinois and this independent review will erase any questions and guarantee its reputation as a center of higher learning and achievement,” Quinn said.

White added that when the commission has finished its work, the university will come together “to ensure our admissions practices are exemplary.”

The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday.com/thegrade.