Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1976 [PAGE 109]

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98

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[October 16

alien parolees may be assigned residency status for tuition purposes and to publish new announcements which clearly state that alien parolees so qualify. Further, restitution is sought for amounts paid by alien parolees in excess of resident tuition rates. O n September 26, 1974, the motion of the plaintiffs for a temporary restraining order was heard by the U.S. District Court. At that time the class action aspects of the complaint were eliminated. By arrangement, Plaintiff Coba was allowed to register at the Chicago Circle campus with the understanding that the tuition differential between resident and non-resident rates would be carried on open account until disposition of the litigation. Chancellor Cheston has requested the University to provide representation for him in the defense of the suit on the ground that any action alleged to have been taken by him in the matter was taken in his capacity as Chancellor of the Chicago Circle campus. Pursuant to previous delegations by the Board of Trustees, the University Counsel has been given interim authorization to take such steps as are necessary or appropriate, including the employment of special counsel, to protect the interests of the University and to provide representation of the Chancellor as requested. The Counsel has recommended that such authorization be ratified, approved, and confirmed in all respects. I concur.

On motion of Mr. Swain, this recommendation was approved by the following vote: Aye, Mr. Forsyth, Mr. Hahn, Mr. Howard, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Neal, Mrs. Rader, Mr. Steger, Mr. Swain; no, none; absent, Dr. Bakalis, Governor Walker.

Litigation Initiated by Emil Michael Msall

(17) T h e University has been named as a defendant in a suit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (Case No. 74 C H 5882), by Emil Michael Msall, an applicant for admission to the College of Medicine. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff is a twenty-three-year-old citizen of the United States and the State of Illinois and a resident of Cook County. It is alleged that the plaintiff is qualified for admission to the College of Medicine, that he applied for admission for the fall term of 1974, that he was placed on a "waiting list," that the fall term commenced September 22, 1974, and that he has not been admitted. It is alleged that the University's admission policies "grant preference by quotas to persons for reasons which are violative of various sections of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Illinois." These alleged University policies include: (a) to grant preference to members of certain racial and ethnic minorities by accepting such persons "even though they are not as well qualified as plaintiff"; (b) to grant admission preference to women "even though they are not as well qualified as plaintiff"; and (c) to grant admission preference to persons who are residents in other counties in Illinois "even though they are not as well qualified as plaintiff." It is stated that if these policies had not been practiced the plaintiff would have been accepted for admission to the College of Medicine. The alleged admission policies are said to be violations per se of the United States and Illinois Constitutions. The complaint asserts that the University "may not exclude any applicant who is a resident of the state and was reasonably well qualified for admission." The complaint further maintains that, by requiring the payment of application fees of $15 from each applicant, the University is unjustly enriched through accepting thousands of applications each year "well knowing that only a small number of those applications will be accepted." The complaint seeks a temporary preliminary and a permanent mandatory