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U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:37 pm
by Sauer Grapes
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/09/11/ ... over-data/
I'm guessing this was Dean Pless that got suspended. It's really too bad. He was always on here answering questions and was a great resource for TLS.
Anyway, if this is posted in the wrong location, mod, please move it.
New Medians (thanks blurbz):
163 and 3.70
http://www.law.illinois.edu/news/article/1614
Wow.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:43 pm
by Bildungsroman
Yikes.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:53 pm
by MrAnon
I'm guessing this was Dean Pless that got suspended. It's really too bad. He was always on here answering questions and was a great resource for TLS.
Anyway, if this is posted in the wrong location, mod, please move it.
Pretty sure that if the office of the dean of admissions has been suspended by the university for false advertising then that office is not the best source of information.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:54 pm
by Ari Goldsen
.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:56 pm
by blurbz
I hope it's not Pless.
MrAnon wrote:I'm guessing this was Dean Pless that got suspended. It's really too bad. He was always on here answering questions and was a great resource for TLS.
Anyway, if this is posted in the wrong location, mod, please move it.
Pretty sure that if the office of the dean of admissions has been suspended by the university for false advertising then that office is not the best source of information.
And please, no. Pless's threads were/are great sources of information. Even if this IS him, he still dedicated a lot of time and effort to this site and had a significant, positive impact.
Edit: Looks like Pless's page has been removed from the COL website. Oy. I'm still hoping it's not him.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:58 pm
by Helmholtz
So they didn't bump up their LSAT median to 174? damn....
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:00 pm
by MrAnon
blurbz wrote:Most of the articles I see say an "assistant dean" was suspended...So it may not be Pless, just someone in his office.
I hope it's not Pless, at least...
MrAnon wrote:I'm guessing this was Dean Pless that got suspended. It's really too bad. He was always on here answering questions and was a great resource for TLS.
Anyway, if this is posted in the wrong location, mod, please move it.
Pretty sure that if the office of the dean of admissions has been suspended by the university for false advertising then that office is not the best source of information.
And please, no. Pless's threads were/are great sources of information. Even if this IS him, he still dedicated a lot of time and effort to this site and had a significant, positive impact.
Do you agree that the university website was a great source of information and so were the school publications---until the school published false stats in both?
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:00 pm
by Bildungsroman
Ari Goldsen wrote:Possible effect on ranking?
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/educat ... class.html
[UIllinois spokesman] Hardy said the matter is being taken very seriously and the UI did not send erroneous information to the American Bar Association, which collects the material.
So this doesn't seem to be a Villanova-level lie where the ABA (and, by extension, USNWR) got false info.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:05 pm
by Kilpatrick
MrAnon wrote:blurbz wrote:Most of the articles I see say an "assistant dean" was suspended...So it may not be Pless, just someone in his office.
I hope it's not Pless, at least...
MrAnon wrote:I'm guessing this was Dean Pless that got suspended. It's really too bad. He was always on here answering questions and was a great resource for TLS.
Anyway, if this is posted in the wrong location, mod, please move it.
Pretty sure that if the office of the dean of admissions has been suspended by the university for false advertising then that office is not the best source of information.
And please, no. Pless's threads were/are great sources of information. Even if this IS him, he still dedicated a lot of time and effort to this site and had a significant, positive impact.
Do you agree that the university website was a great source of information and so were the school publications---until the school published false stats in both?
Do you really have to be an asshole in
every thread? This is a person who we know personally. Go back to trolling the Legal Employment forum.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:07 pm
by Helmholtz
Is UIUC the school that allowed all those people (who had awful numbers) into the law school because of the "connections" the students had?
If so, UIUC is seriously making itself a contender for Shadiest Supposedly-Reputable Law School of the Decade.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:09 pm
by blurbz
MrAnon wrote:blurbz wrote:Most of the articles I see say an "assistant dean" was suspended...So it may not be Pless, just someone in his office.
I hope it's not Pless, at least...
MrAnon wrote:I'm guessing this was Dean Pless that got suspended. It's really too bad. He was always on here answering questions and was a great resource for TLS.
Anyway, if this is posted in the wrong location, mod, please move it.
Pretty sure that if the office of the dean of admissions has been suspended by the university for false advertising then that office is not the best source of information.
And please, no. Pless's threads were/are great sources of information. Even if this IS him, he still dedicated a lot of time and effort to this site and had a significant, positive impact.
Do you agree that the university website was a great source of information and so were the school publications---until the school published false stats in both?
Come on, man. I'm not defending publishing false info. I'm saying that he did do some good work and that his outreach on this site was, bar none, the most impressive thing I saw a law dean do. Additionally, my interactions with him have led me to have nothing but the highest amount of respect for him. If this was Pless, then it's a travesty and he ought to be held accountable, but it shouldn't --and, at least for me, it won't-- tarnish everything else he's ever done.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:19 pm
by Bildungsroman
Helmholtz wrote:Is UIUC the school that allowed all those people (who had awful numbers) into the law school because of the "connections" the students had?
Yes indeed.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:28 pm
by blurbz
Bildungsroman wrote:Helmholtz wrote:Is UIUC the school that allowed all those people (who had awful numbers) into the law school because of the "connections" the students had?
Yes indeed.
At least Pless's emails, now available publicly, suggest he was on the "right" side of that debacle. It is those emails that keep me hopeful he's on the "right" side now, too....
In any event, sad day.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:31 pm
by 071816
Bildungsroman wrote:Yikes.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:39 pm
by NYC Law
Should Pless be on here somewhere?
http://www.law.illinois.edu/administrative-directory
ETA: He was removed, I just confirmed with Google Cache.
Pless is the guy.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... clnk&gl=us
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:40 pm
by downstream
blurbz wrote:Bildungsroman wrote:Helmholtz wrote:Is UIUC the school that allowed all those people (who had awful numbers) into the law school because of the "connections" the students had?
Yes indeed.
At least Pless's emails, now available publicly, suggest he was on the "right" side of that debacle. It is those emails that keep me hopeful he's on the "right" side now, too....
In any event, sad day.
"Right side"?? Can you read? All of those kids were admitted.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:40 pm
by blurbz
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:42 pm
by blurbz
downstream wrote:blurbz wrote:Bildungsroman wrote:Helmholtz wrote:Is UIUC the school that allowed all those people (who had awful numbers) into the law school because of the "connections" the students had?
Yes indeed.
At least Pless's emails, now available publicly, suggest he was on the "right" side of that debacle. It is those emails that keep me hopeful he's on the "right" side now, too....
In any event, sad day.
"Right side"?? Can you read? All of those kids were admitted.
If you look at the emails that are available about it, he said repeatedly that he was against the arrangement and did not want to do it.
I'll ask you the same question: Can you read?
I didn't say that the scandal didn't happen, just that the documents released by U of I suggest that throughout it, Pless was on the "right" side of it.
And before you jump all over me and call me a U of I apologist... no, I don't defend that scandal either. In fact, I have very little respect for the woman who was Dean at the time (and who is still on the faculty here).
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:45 pm
by MrAnon
That's great that you hold him in high regard on that issue, but U of I still did it.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:46 pm
by downstream
Passive-aggressive arguments via email is hardly taking a stand.
That scandal stunk to high heaven. He would have resigned if he was really against it.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:47 pm
by MrAnon
downstream wrote:Passive-aggressive arguments via email is hardly taking a stand.
That scandal stunk to high heaven. He would have resigned if he was really against it.
Yeah it could also be interpreted as covering one's -----.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:48 pm
by blurbz
MrAnon wrote:That's great that you hold him in high regard on that issue, but U of I still did it.
Yeah, and I'm not defending it.
____________
Anyway, here's a quote from the State of Illinois Admissions Review Commission:
"The Commission notes that the record is replete with instances in which Pless resisted efforts both by outside forces and by Hurd to impose admissions decisions on the College and, in some instances, reversed admissions decisions that Pless and his admissions staff had already made."
--LinkRemoved--
Again, I'm not defending that scandal, but Pless was, without a doubt, on the right side of it.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:52 pm
by downstream
I assure you, there can be no "right side" of a scandal of that nature. You're either in it or not. There are no sides.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:52 pm
by Tiago Splitter
Five guaranteed legal jobs in exchange for letting one connected kid? Sounds like a hell of a deal for the students.
Of course, if the school was letting in a lot of connected people with crappy numbers, they'd need to falsify data to keep those medians high.
Re: U. of Illinois Law suspends Dean of Admissions
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:57 pm
by Kilpatrick
downstream wrote:I assure you, there can be no "right side" of a scandal of that nature. You're either in it or not. There are no sides.
First of all, the "scandal" was admitting people with low numbers in exchange for jobs for Illinois graduates. As far as scandals go a lot of schools have done a lot worse.
Second, you really think he should have quit his job because his boss made him admit a few kids with shitty numbers? In an ideal world that might have been nice, but realistically who in the fuck would take that kind of stand? Dude's got a wife and kid.