Police Chief Tim McCarthy turns up on University of Illinois Trustees application list

Orland Park's esteemed Police Chief Tim McCarthy is among many who have applied to become new trustees at the University of Illinois.

The University is center stage in a scandal involving the placement of unqualified student applicants above more qualified students to be admitted to the state, taxpayer-funded school. Seven of the trustees have resigned and two remained refusing to resign including James Montgomery the former corporation counsel for the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington.

Beleaguered Gov. Pat Quinn has been flip flopping on the scandal like crazy, appointing a "Blue Ribbon Committee" to investigate the scandal and clout. but the committee only investigated one aspect of the controversy, the one involving University officials and trustees. It tried and failed to look into the real culprits and the roles of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, who had submitted and pressured the University to accept unqualified nominees who were relatives, friends, children of campaign contributors or political cronies.

Read my column on Pat Quinn, Don Quixote or Chauncey Gardener (Being There movie)?

McCarthy would make a great University of Illinois Trustee. He is impeccable as a public servant with one of the most qualified backgrounds. McCarthy is a 1971 graduate of the University of Illinois who, as a secret service agent, was shot and seriously wounded in 1971 saving the life of then President Ronald Reagan during an assassination attempt.

Also on the list is the son of gadfly perennial candidate Jim Oberweis.