Appease one caught in institute's scandal? (8)
I believe the answer is:
mitigate
'appease' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'one caught in institute's scandal?' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'caught in' indicates putting letters inside.
'institute' becomes 'MIT' (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
'scandal?' becomes 'gate' (as in Watergate and other formations).
'mit'+'gate'='mitgate'
'i' put inside 'mitgate' is 'MITIGATE'.
(Other definitions for mitigate that I've seen before include "Make less severe" , "Moderate" , "Assemble" , "Lessen the gravity of" , "Appease" .)