If it is indeed true, the story of the College of Medicine's dean allegedly admitting a student based not on his academic merit but on his connections is dangerous and offensive to College of Medicine students and faculty.
At a time when we face a physician shortage, a budget shortage and a struggle to keep the integrity of our university, we should not be blowing our intellectual, financial and public-image resources on people such as this.
I am enraged and sick of our administration cheapening my degree by constantly embarrassing our university in the name of politics and power. This debacle with the medical school, the hiring of state Sen. Mike Haridopolos and the failure of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences dean search after the usurping of budget control are all ominous signs of the direction our university is headed.
Even if it is simply a case of disagreement between the dean and the Medical Selection Committee on the qualifications of a student, it is still a slap in the face to the more than 50 faculty members and students who put their time and effort into the selection process.
Furthermore, if the candidate is as qualified as Dean Kone suggests, it should have been a no-brainer for the candidate to be given admission, which was evidently not the case.
There are many questions left unanswered, and I hope the dean will be a part of answering them in the coming days.
