Can you believe it?
University of Arkansas’ tall tales
THE UNIVERSITY of Arkansas at Fayetteville has been caught up in a sticky web of stories it’s woven itself. To cite just the latest example uncovered by Arkansas’ Newspaper, the university and its Razorback Foundation are two separate and distinct organizations—so they say—that don’t coordinate their statements or actions, and therefore the Foundation should not be subject to this state’s open-records law.
But after checking out almost 22,000 pages of emails between three dozen of the university’s staffers and its Foundation, which is what the Democrat-Gazette did, it would be hard for any fair-minded observer to deny that the two are intimately connected. And both would seem to have the same purpose: to curry favor with big givers to the university’s athletic programs.
But opinions do differ, as they will. Some folks seem to care a lot where their money goes. For example, there’s Dick Latta of less than metropolitan Lincoln, Ark., who was mentioned in the papers. He figures he’s given more than $30,000 over the course of a couple of decades. He’s questioned all the spending in the wake of a coaching turnover and the $160 million project to expand the football stadium.
On the other hand, Chris Fowler of Jonesboro, a Razorback fan who chips in more than $20,000 a year, claims to be “extremely happy” with the Foundation’s activities. Demands that the university’s athletic department open its records to the public, he says, don’t “melt my butter.” He sounds like one very satisfied customer when it comes to the Foundation’s efforts. It takes all kinds, we suppose, to make up a fan base.
The Razorback Foundation’s income stems principally from contributions made by fans interested in buying season tickets to games. Some two-thirds of Razorback Stadium’s 72,000 seats go to fans who have to make donations if they’re going to get one of those prized seats. Call it pay for watching others play.
But if you’d like to go on living in a dream world full of fictive concepts like the student-athlete and fans who are supporting Razorback teams without a thought of getting anything in exchange, then by all means ignore front-page headlines like the one in Wednesday’s paper: “UA, foundations emails show messaging team-up.” It’s a wonderful way to escape reality.