Last spring, Brent W. Sembler saw an opening that might help him land a big gift. As he had done many times before, the Florida State University trustee sent a query to Janice V. Finney, longtime director of admissions. Was this student, who had been denied in December, perhaps "admissible?" Mr. Sembler asked. "Here’s why I’m asking," the trustee wrote in an email. The student’s "family is capable of funding our new Business School!" With a core grade-point average below 3.0, Ms. Finney said, fall admission was not possible. But she would "work with him for January." The trustee wrote back, beaming: "That’s one of the things I LOVE about you! I’m workin it HARD!"

November 29, 2015 ・ From Chronicle of Higher Education