FROM THE CAPITOL: Controversy Continues to Plague Universities

BY Senator Leland Yee

Administrators at the University of California at Berkeley are following the lead of California State University Stanislaus executives by using taxpayer dollars to fund auxiliary organizations, which they had previously claimed were entirely self-supporting.
Despite the wildly held view that major athletic programs generate money for their colleges, UC Berkeley officials recently acknowledged that the Cal Athletics program has been operating in the red for the past few years.

As a result, over $12 million of general funds and student fees have been used to balance the budget of the fiscally unsound program.

Previously, representatives of the UC made countless claims that programs such as Intercollegiate Athletics – previously defined as an “auxiliary enterprise” – are entirely self-supporting and do not use public funds to operate. Yet in the face of tuition hikes, faculty and staff furloughs, and elimination of classes, yesterday the Daily Cal reported that UC Berkeley is now moving to designate Cal sports as a “hybrid” organization in order to allow millions of dollars in state subsidies to continue.
Recently, CSU Stanislaus claimed they had no documents or correspondence pertaining to a paid visit by Sarah Palin. Then, email correspondence by administrators regarding the visit were uncovered and students also found pages 4 through 9 of the Palin contract in the administration’s dumpster, which showed her visit requirements include a hotel suite, first class airfare or a private Lear jet, pre-screened questions, and “bendable straws.” The incident has spurred an investigation by the Attorney General, a lawsuit by Californians Aware, and several hate messages into the office of Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) who had made a public records request to the University for such information.

Both UC Berkeley and CSU Stanislaus executives are displaying a shocking attitude of arrogance and indifference to the people of California. These administrations have argued against commonsense transparency and falsely claimed that they are not taxpayer-supported. When evidence emerges that suggests they are being less than truthful, they have no response. The students, faculty, and taxpayers of California deserve better than empty promises made in a transparency vacuum. Although both the CSU Stanislaus Foundation and UC Berkeley Intercollegiate Athletics (IA) program use state-funded resources like computers, staff, and office space, the situation at UC Berkeley involves direct state funded appropriations to IA. These appropriations are in direct violation of the parameters of auxiliary enterprises – defined as “services including student housing, intercollegiate athletics, food services, bookstores, and parking. Auxiliary Enterprises are self-supporting and are not subsidized by the state.”
The definition of auxiliary enterprises was developed by UC itself, and is used in California’s budget process. According to the Daily Cal, UC officials are operating as if IA was never considered an auxiliary enterprise and thus allowed continued state funding of Cal Athletics.
This is another example of one of our public universities playing ‘hide the ball’ with the public’s money. As a Berkeley grad, I want our athletics program to succeed as much as anyone, but I seriously question the university’s priorities when public dollars are flowing into auxiliaries at the same time they are turning away students and laying off workers.

As a result, student fees are increased and funding for programs are being cut. This makes it difficult for our working families to afford a college education for their children. For students who are working to pay for their college education, they are forced to stay in school longer in order to get all the classes necessary to complete their programs. It is not fair that the students are the ones suffering.

Last week, I wrote a letter to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau requesting a clear accounting of all revenues and expenditures. In arguing against legislation I introduced, Senate Bill 330, to subject campus auxiliary organizations to the California Public Records Act, UC and CSU have claimed public funds are not used in their operations.