California State University, Stanislaus, in wake of their gold anniversary, has invited Sarah Palin to speak at their 50th Anniversary Gala. Like most things Sara Palin, post-2008, the invitation has stirred controversy.
Professors and students at the university are protesting her appearance, citing the confidentiality of Palin’s compensation. But, does Palin really have anything to do with the problem?
“We are demanding that the CSU Stanislaus Foundation disclose the full amount paid for Mrs. Palin’s speaking fee and all other expenses associated with the contract that both parties have entered,” said Alicia Lewis, CSU Stanislaus student leader, in a statement.
The CSU Foundation is hosting the event June 25. The Foundation is a non profit organization “affiliated” with the school. We use the word “affiliated” loosely because the CSU and the University of California systems have been known to utilize a loophole in the California Public Record Act, which allows public universities to block budget information regarding auxiliaries and foundations such as the one “affiliated” with CSU Stanislaus.
“This is exactly the problem we’ve been fighting over with the CSU for years,” said Sen. Leland Yee (D-S.F.). “They continue to operate in this cloak of secrecy when it comes to their foundations and auxiliary organizations.”
According to Yee, the 23-campus CSU tosses about $1.34 billion of its $6.7 billion budget into its 87 foundations and auxiliary organizations.
A professor at CSU Stanislaus has started a Facebook group protesting the appearance of Palin. This ordeal, however, goes beyond Palin. The CSU system has long taken advantage of the California Public Record Act loophole.
Last February, Sen. Yee introduced SB 330, which aimed to close this loophole, potentially limiting misappropriation of public funds.
Introducing the bill, Yee declared, “These bills are imperative in order to rid the UC and the CSU of waste, fraud, and abuse. Taxpayers and students deserve to know how their public universities are run.”
As long as foundations and axillaries “affiliated” with CSU and UC system are allowed to keep their books closed to the block, misappropriation will occur.
SB 330 is essential to the continued function of higher education in California. Entities that receive public funds should be transparent.
We applaud Sen. Yee’s efforts. CSU and UC auxiliaries and foundations need to be held accountable for their budgets. Palin, however, has nothing to with this battle. A push for positive change in one direction does not merit wrong in another.
Palin should be allowed to speak at CSU Stanislaus. This editorial board may disagree with some of things she says but this is no reason to prevent her from speaking.
Public record-loophole or not, rescinding her invitation now would be unprofessional not to mention fundamentally wrong on the basis of free speech rights.
This loophole was a problem before her invitation and it will remain a problem after. Yet, partisan attacks on the former vice presidential nominee should not shadow the magnitude of this transparency issue.
It would be a shame if CSU Stanislaus students and teachers were drawing attention to this problem as a vehicle for preventing Palin’s appearance simply because she holds beliefs contrary to their own.
Last week, the University of Wyoming cancelled a speaking event with Bill Ayers, co-founder of Weather Underground, a self-described communist revolutionary group, because of conservative student opposition. This paper holds all California universities to a higher standard.
The limitation of public access to records involving public funds is a problem but this failure should not be used as a vehicle for partisan attack.
The protection of free speech should come before any amount of money. Preventing Palin from speaking will not fix this loophole.
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