REVEALED: Senator Dianne Feinstein's investment banker husband 'used clout' as University of California regent to help 'less qualified' student get accepted off waitlist
Senator Dianne Feinstein's investment banker husband has been identified as the University of California regent who wrote a letter that likely helped a 'less qualified' applicant gain admission to UC Berkeley.
Richard Blum was named Thursday by the state auditor's office as one of the regents involved in admissions scandal where UC wrongly admitted dozens of wealthy, mostly white students as favors to well-connected people.
Among those 'inappropriately admitted' were a student whose family was friends with a member of the Board of Regents, the child of a major donor and an applicant who babysat for a colleague of a former admissions director, according to the report released Tuesday by the California State Auditor.
Blum was unapologetic in an interview with the Mercury News, saying he did not recall the specific incident mentioned in the audit but that he has written letters on behalf of students over the years. 'I find this to be much ado about nothing,' he said.
Senator Dianne Feinstein's investment banker husband Richard Blum (with her above) has been identified as the University of California regent who wrote a letter that likely helped a 'less qualified' applicant gain admission to UC Berkeley
The UC Berkeley campus is seen above. A regent unidentified in the audit, later identified as Blum, sent an 'inappropriate letter of support' directly to the UC Berkeley chancellor on behalf of a student with only a 26 percent chance of winning a spot off the wait list
In one case, a regent unidentified in the audit sent an 'inappropriate letter of support' directly to the UC Berkeley chancellor on behalf of a student with only a 26 percent chance of winning a spot off the wait list.
The audit says that this occurred despite the policy prohibiting efforts by regents to influence admissions decisions by going around the regular process. The applicant was admitted.
Auditor's spokeswoman Margarita Fernandez confirmed to The Associated Press that Blum was the regent.
Blum told the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday that he's done nothing wrong and that he's used his clout to get friends and family into the elite public system for years.
'I did it a bunch of times,' Blum said, adding that he has never considered it a problem to write recommendation letters bypassing the traditional admissions process.
Blum was unapologetic, saying he did not recall the specific incident mentioned in the audit but that he has written letters on behalf of students over the years
A policy prohibiting such influence has been in place throughout Blum´s 18-year tenure on the Board of Regents, the newspaper reported.
Blum, a financier, told the Chronicle that 'no one ever told me it was wrong.' He said he has sent letters of recommendation about friends and family to chancellors at multiple UC campuses since becoming a regent in 2002.
'Wherever they were applying. Wherever they wanted to get in.' He recalled sending letters specifically to the chancellors at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC Irvine, but added: 'almost everywhere.'
Regents Chair John Pérez issued a statement Thursday saying the 'UC Board of Regents takes these matters very seriously, and any violations will be promptly and appropriately addressed.'
He said that UC´s ethics and audit compliance office is reviewing the information 'to determine whether the alleged conduct violates' the regents policy, in place since 1996.
Feinstein's office declined to comment.
The audit examined admissions policies and practices over the six academic years from 2013-2014 to 2018-2019 at four of the UC´s nine campuses - UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara.
It was requested last year by state Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath in response to the national college admissions scandal, which embroiled prestigious universities nationwide, athletic coaches and dozens of wealthy parents.