Special consideration in admissions for the rich and well-connected has been part of the UCLA culture for years, extending beyond University of California regents and state politicians to include friends and relatives of local political figures, university officials and major donors, a months-long Times investigation shows.
In some cases, UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young and his top aides were instrumental in securing spots for lesser qualified or rejected applicants who were sponsored by donors and other supporters. Thousands of confidential records, including electronic communications and memos, reviewed by The Times indicate that the special consideration extended to some of the region's most prominent people.
Among those whose relatives and friends received favorable treatment through what has been a backdoor admission process into UCLA are Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, movie producer Jon Peters, former UCLA football Coach Terry Donahue and Lawrence E. Irell, founder of a prestigious law firm.
In all, records show that since 1980, 900 individuals made more than 2,000 requests on behalf of applicants seeking undergraduate slots, dorm rooms, graduate admissions and entry into the school's highly coveted University Elementary School.
Most were for undergraduate admissions, however, and those requests had a better track record of getting applicants in than applicants who went through the normal process. Nearly 70% of the cases involving VIP students verified by The Times won undergraduate admission, compared to less than 50% for all undergraduate hopefuls, a computer analysis found.
More than 200 students were admitted after initially being rejected, and another 75 were admitted ahead of hundreds of others with better grades and higher Scholastic Assessment Test scores who were turned away.
One major avenue for these back-channel requests has been the university's development staff, responsible for raising millions of dollars in private funds, records show. To a lesser degree, Young and top officials also have served as conduits for the requests, including those from elected officials from the local to federal level.
Once such VIP requests went to UCLA, the would-be students were flagged as "special interest applicants" by the admissions office and their names put on special computer runs for careful and personal monitoring by Admissions Director Rae Lee Siporin, records show.
"Hundreds of people are called to my attention . . . anyone who contributes money to the university feels that they have some kind of connection and deserve [more than] the average applicant," Siporin said. "So every year there are hundreds of people that [think] they are going to get special attention. Do they all get it? No."
In an interview Wednesday, Young said he was unaware that the admissions office had such a designation for VIP candidates. But the chancellor, considered one of higher education's elder statesmen, defended the practice of giving "special consideration" to requests made by big donors and university supporters.
"People who give money and are associated with, and who are heavily involved [with the university] believe that they will get some proper considerations different than people who don't," Young said in his Murphy Hall office. "If you don't do that, it is going to reduce dramatically what [money] we raise.
"Should their children be admitted if they are not admissible?" he said. "The answer is no."
But in several cases last year, confidential records show that Young or his staff tried to do just that. In one instance, the chancellor overruled his own admissions staff in favor of the nephew of Saudi Arabia's former oil minister, a wealthy sheik whom UCLA has targeted for a large gift in its upcoming $1-billion fund-raising campaign.
Hisham M. Nazer's nephew applied for entrance for last fall but had a Scholastic Assessment Test score of 700, considered extremely low by UCLA standards. That prompted admissions officials to write the word "deny" twice in his file. Then Young weighed in. The denial was deleted and a new notation added to his file: "CEY [Young's initials] wants this st[udent] admitted!" The youth was offered a freshman spot for January but decided to attend an East Coast college instead.
Reached by telephone, Nazer's nephew said he was aware that his uncle had placed a phone call on his behalf but was told to expect no special treatment. "He told me, 'I know people. It might help to call,' " the nephew said.
Young said he could not recall getting a call but acknowledged that he was trying to cultivate Nazer as a contributor.
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