Chronicle of Higher Education
10-19-07
Should Open Records Laws Apply to Alumni Associations?
As more scrutiny is placed on colleges’ relationships with credit-card companies,
some campus leaders argue that even privately run alumni associations should
comply with state public-records laws.
At Iowa State University this week, Gregory Geoffroy, president of the
university, said the alumni association should disclose its credit-card marketing
agreements with Bank of America, The Des Moines Register reports.
“It’s very clear to me that the principles of the Supreme Court ruling on the
university foundation a few years ago apply equally well to the alumni
association,” Mr. Geoffroy said. “So anything that the alumni association does
that could be reasonably construed as a governmental function, the records
associated with those activities are public records.”
What do you think? Should such marketing agreements be made public? Are
there any reasons to shield alumni associations from sunshine laws?