Rogue Admissions Officer asked to turn in badge and gun

By Walker King

Oct. 18, 2013

A high profile murder investigation took another turn as controversial University of Chicago Admissions Officer Ryan Sterling was reportedly asked to turn in his badge and gun to Dean of College Admissions and Financial Aid James Nondorf today.

Sterling claims he was nearing a break in the murder of Lou Jacobson, Sterling’s former partner, whom Sterling alleges was murdered by Bobby Harris, a high school senior from Hartford, Connecticut. “Goddammit, Sterling!” said Nondorf in a behind-closed-doors conversation overheard by Dealer reporters. “How many times did I tell you to back off the Jacobson case? You’re off the force!”

“C’mon, chief!” replied Sterling. “I know that punk killed Lou. I can feel it. You know damn well those letters of reference were falsified, and Lou was just about to blow the whistle on the whole thing. That’s why they killed him!” An official statement from the Office of College Admissions’ Department of Internal Affairs claims Sterling will be taking a leave of absence for health reasons, and investigations into Jacobson’s murder are ongoing.

While Jacobson was working late hours on Harris’ case file at the time of his murder, no one knows if that was connected to his murder. Inside sources report Jacobson had left a message on Nondorf’s voice-mail saying he had “found something big,” and was heading to Rosenwald Hall to share his findings when he was murdered. “Nondorf isn’t interested in admitting the best students possible,” said Sterling to reporters. “He just wants to keep lining his pockets.”

“This goes all the way to the top,” Sterling added.

Sterling has had an outstanding record of arrests during his tenure as Admissions Counselor for the Northeastern United States, but an equally impressive history of disciplinary action. In 2007, as a beat counselor for the Southwest region, Sterling blew the lid off an AP transcript smuggling ring which resulted in more than 50 prospective students having their admissions offers revoked. While many staff officers in the department doubted Sterling’s evidence, Jacobson supported him, and together, they were able to interrupt a shipmentdown at the docks that Sterling “had a hunch” was coming in that night. The bust even implicated high-profile applicant Jason Cassavette of Tuscon, though Cassavette was able to enroll in the fall because, Sterling claims, his involvement was hushed up by University President Robert Zimmer himself.

“I had the kid dead to rights,” said Sterling at the time. “But he draws a lot of water around these parts, and the bigwigs in the administration had the whole thing hushed up.” Sterling points to Cassavette’s $750,000 donation to the Office of Admissions pension fund as evidence of corruption among top university officials. Though the bust made him a golden boy in the press, University officials were not so enamored with Sterling’s unorthodox methods, and he was promoted to head regional counselor for Alaska and Hawaii, what some considered an attempt to get Sterling out of the way. Only in the last six months was Sterling promoted to his current position as counselor for the Northeast region.

Human Resources’ records show that, at the time of his death, Officer Jacobson was only two weeks away from retirement.