Silly Administrators, only Hillary can break the rules.
The University of Illinois says several administrators violated school policy by using private emails to hide correspondence from public view, including exchanges about a professor whose job offer was rescinded after he sent anti-Israel Twitter messages.
A statement Friday from the U of I says emails on several sensitive topics should have been turned over in response to a Freedom of Information request. The university simultaneously released hundreds of pages of the emails in question.
Among the emails were those from outgoing Chancellor Phyllis Wise, who submitted her resignation Thursday. A university spokesman was not immediately available to comment on whether the alleged violations of email policy was related to Wise’s decision.
Wise and the school face a lawsuit filed by Steven Salaita, whose job offer she rescinded over anti-Israel tweets.
Three major issues were discussed in the personal email exchanges: the hiring of Salaita; the hiring of James Kilgore, a felon following radical activities in the 1970s, to teach a global studies class; and a proposed engineering-medical school.
The university released 1,100 emails on Friday, many from Wise’s personal account.
“A desire to maintain confidentiality on certain sensitive University-related topics was one reason personal email accounts were used to communicate about these topics. Some emails suggested that individuals were encouraged to use personal email accounts for communicating on such topics,” U of I said in a statement.