BOULDER, Colo. -- The University of Colorado's fund-raising
arm spent thousands of dollars on country club memberships for
football and basketball coaches, and until last year paid for a
membership to a men-only club, newly released documents show.
After months of defending its secrecy amid accusations of
financial mismanagement, the CU Foundation released thousands of
pages of records and correspondence Wednesday relating to the
school's athletics program.
The CU Foundation also announced that its board has adopted a
new public disclosure policy "to be as open as it can be with its
various publics,'' said George Sissel, the foundation's board
chairman.
Some of the money spent on club memberships and other expenses
came from an account that until earlier this year was called the
Golden Buffalo Scholarship Fund.
Sissel said he was confident the foundation had done nothing
improper. At issue is what are called discretionary funds,
donations not designated for a specific purpose by donors that are
available to coaches and academic administrators.
The release of records is the latest development touched off by
a scandal in the school's football program that included
allegations of sexual assaults on female students.
The records released Wednesday show the foundation paid $17,285
in 2002 and $27,940 in 2003 to country clubs for memberships for CU
coaches, including football coach Gary Barnett and basketball
coaches Ricardo Patton and Ceal Barry.
Byram said those fees came from several different accounts,
including the Golden Buffalo Scholarship Fund.
E-mail exchanges suggest foundation and university officials
struggled with how to pay Patton's membership to Bear Creek Golf
Club because it excludes women.
Former athletic director Dick Tharp wrote to a foundation
employee that school policy "prohibits association with any
organization that discriminates, etc.'' Payments to the club for
Patton ended last year, the documents indicated.
Gov. Bill Owens criticized the use of Golden Buffalo fund money
Wednesday, saying donors may not be aware their gifts weren't going
solely to scholarships.
Foundation president Michael M. Byram said the foundation has
changed that fund's name to the Colorado Athletics Fund to end any
confusion.
Officials of the CU Foundation, which has assets of more than
$760 million, contend it is a private organization that it is not
covered by open records laws. Some of the newly released records
were edited to protect what the foundation called personnel or
donor privacy.