Covering Louisiana
LSU rebuffs public records request from newspaper
Posted: Feb 14, 2013 10:30 AM by AP
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - LSU will continue to keep secret the names and qualifications of candidates in the running to become the university's next president after rejecting a public records request from The Advocate.
The Advocate formally requested access last week to the applications, background materials and other information related to LSU's search for a new university system president.
The records request cited a section of Louisiana law requiring that "each applicant for public position of authority" be made "available for public inspection."
Members of LSU's Presidential Search Committee said earlier this month they were considering about 30 candidates for the position. While addressing the committee, consultant Bill Funk pointed to a collection of documents in front of him, presumably containing the names and qualifications of the candidates.
Funk and the committee, however, did not discuss the candidates publicly, opting instead to move into a closed-door session lasting roughly an hour.
In a written response to The Advocate's public records request, LSU System Lead Counsel Shelby McKenzie said none of those candidates has submitted written applications directly to LSU.
Instead, McKenzie said, all application materials are being handled by Dallas-based R. William Funk and Associates, through the firm's contract with the private LSU Foundation, and therefore, are not subject to state public records laws.
"That company maintains proprietary information on persons holding high academic and other positions who might become candidates for a top university position ..." McKenzie wrote. "The LSU Board of Supervisors has not been given possession of any documents from William Funk and Associates that are responsive to your request."
Funk, the head of the firm, has said he won't talk to reporters during the search expected to last until June.
LSU's decision to conduct a secretive search isn't unprecedented. The university has a history of secretly meeting with candidates in remote locations and airports during past searches for former administrators, including LSU Chancellors Sean O'Keefe and Michael Martin and former System President John Lombardi.
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