Mejia said "Due to an application error", which is like "mistakes were made." And on top of that, he said "I was denied". And not only denied, but "denied the right ..."
**IF** the error was Mejia's own, then his saying "I was denied" and "denied the right" raises a HUGE red flag with me. "I was denied" and "denied the right" are pretty much the way a habitual victim talks, anyhow, and **IF** a guy says it to explain his own mistake, then I would just about never hire such a guy. The apparent tendency toward victimhood would be a deal-breaker for me.
On the other hand, if the "application error" was *not* due to Mejia's own error and *was* due to the Univ. of Illinois, then Mejia is just another bad writer/communicator, and then I would dislike that, but I would not hold it as much against him.