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U. of Illinois cancels $98,000 sculpture
URBANA, Ill., (UPI) -- Officials with the University of Illinois said plans for a $98,000 sculpture of a former president at the Urbana-Champaign campus have been canceled.
A spokesman for the university told the Chicago Tribune Thursday former President Stanley Ikenberry, who was to be the subject of the statue in the new Ikenberry Commons dining hall, scheduled to open in the fall, requested plans for the statue be called off Monday amid recent scrutiny from the Tribune.
Ikenberry, who served as president from 1979 to 1995, returned as interim head of the university following the resignation of President B. Joseph White late last year. White resigned during a scandal about a formalized admissions system for politically connected applicants to receive preferential treatment over more highly qualified applicants.
"(Ikenberry) didn't want to generate any ill will toward the university or put the university in an embarrassing situation," spokesman Thomas Hardy said.
The sculpture, which was to have been paid for with student housing fees, would have come amid budget problems at the school that led officials to take steps that included raising tuition and furloughing employees.
The university filed papers with the state last month saying the institution "intends to award" the contract for the statue to Urbana-based sculptor Peter Fagan, who was informed of its cancellation Thursday. He said he was 85 percent done with a clay model of the sculpture.
URBANA, Ill., (UPI) -- Officials with the University of Illinois said plans for a $98,000 sculpture of a former president at the Urbana-Champaign campus have been canceled.
A spokesman for the university told the Chicago Tribune Thursday former President Stanley Ikenberry, who was to be the subject of the statue in the new Ikenberry Commons dining hall, scheduled to open in the fall, requested plans for the statue be called off Monday amid recent scrutiny from the Tribune.
Ikenberry, who served as president from 1979 to 1995, returned as interim head of the university following the resignation of President B. Joseph White late last year. White resigned during a scandal about a formalized admissions system for politically connected applicants to receive preferential treatment over more highly qualified applicants.
"(Ikenberry) didn't want to generate any ill will toward the university or put the university in an embarrassing situation," spokesman Thomas Hardy said.
The sculpture, which was to have been paid for with student housing fees, would have come amid budget problems at the school that led officials to take steps that included raising tuition and furloughing employees.
The university filed papers with the state last month saying the institution "intends to award" the contract for the statue to Urbana-based sculptor Peter Fagan, who was informed of its cancellation Thursday. He said he was 85 percent done with a clay model of the sculpture.