UT proudly boasts a list of many famous former students and a few infamous ones. Illinois Governor and former UT student Rod Blagojevich, however, seems to be in the spotlight recently for the wrong reasons.
Blagojevich was arrested at his home Dec. 9, pending an FBI investigation of ‘wide-ranging criminal conspiracy,’ including plans to sell president-elect Barack Obama’s open senate seat.
He came to UT in 1975, following in the footsteps of his older brother who played baseball for the university.
‘The University of Tampa was an odd college choice for a kid ‘from the neighborhood,” Blagojevich told the Chicago Magazine in 2003.
Due to his mediocre grade point average and ACT scores, however, ‘schools like Northwestern, I couldn’t get into,’ he said.
After two years at UT, Blagojevich was admitted to Northwestern, where he earned a degree in history in 1979.
His brother Rob, however, stayed at UT and completed his degree in 1977.
Now a private investor in his Nashville-based company, Blagojevich Investments, Rob was the keynote speaker at last May’s graduation ceremony.
‘My years here were among the happiest and most formative of my life,’ he told graduates.
‘As you anxiously wait to cross this stage, receive your diploma and prepare to leave, you’re probably feeling a mix of emotions about the future, that’s normal.’
He encouraged the importance of networking and even gave his business phone number to students, offering his assistance and encouraging them to call.
He told graduates the story of how his father, a poor Serbian immigrant, had worked hard and risen to success against difficult circumstances.
Rob and Rod continued in their father’s footsteps, rising out of a blue-collar neighborhood to become a wealthy entrepreneur and politician.
But one day shy of his 52nd birthday, Rod Blagojevich awoke from his American dream.
Early in the morning he received a phone call from federal investigators. They had been monitoring him for months and knew of his plans to sell president-elect Barack Obama’s senate seat.
They arrived at his home shortly thereafter and arrested the ex-Spartan on federal charges of attempting to commit fraud and solicit bribes.
‘What I’ve discovered since I’ve been governor is that there’s a certain loneliness to the job,’ Blagojevich told the New York Times.
‘There’s a loneliness and a certain sadness because you have to isolate yourself to some extent. There are so many people who want so many different things from you.’
Action has been taken to impeach the governor and he faces up to 30 years of prison time if convicted.
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