AUSTIN, Texas ― State lawmakers, university regents and even current and former athletes wrote letters to top campus officials, helping underqualified students win University of Texas admission.
The Dallas Morning News reports that the letters came from top UT alumni. They include golfer Ben Crenshaw, former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.
The letters were written outside the normal admissions process to then-university President Bill Powers and Francisco Cigarroa, the then-chancellor.
The letters surfaced as part of an outside investigation known as the Kroll report. It highlighted 73 students from 2009 to 2012 who entered the university system’s flagship Austin campus despite relatively low high school grades and SAT scores.
The News obtained the letters under state open records laws.
