Penn State Trustee Suing School to Gain Access to $5 Billion Endowment Records
“The downside of the secrecy is enormous. I can’t imagine a university that had a [Jerry] Sandusky, that they would continue to think hiding essential public records is a good idea”
Why would the school be so secretive about the endowment records? Makes them look suspicious.
The College Fix reports:
Penn State trustee sues to get records on $5 billion endowment
A Penn State University trustee who ran on a fiscal responsibility platform says he has been denied access to financial records about its $5 billion endowment.
Now, after facing a “runaround” for years, Trustee Barry Fenchak said he is suing the university in an attempt to gain access to the documents.
“For raising issues, requesting information I am legally entitled to, and trying to engage my fellow trustees in honest deliberation I have been stripped of committee assignments, issued a Letter of Censure from the Executive Committee, and had my social privileges revoked,” Fenchak wrote Wednesday in his personal newsletter, shared with The College Fix.
Fenchak (pictured) said he felt he had “no choice” but to take legal action after his requests to review financial records were denied.
His lawsuit, filed in July, also has renewed concerns about transparency at state universities. The Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law does not require universities to follow the same disclosure requirements as other public entities, Brechner Freedom of Information Project Director David Cuillier said.
“The downside of the secrecy is enormous. I can’t imagine a university that had a [Jerry] Sandusky, that they would continue to think hiding essential public records is a good idea,” Cuillier, of the University of Florida, told The Fix in a Monday phone interview.
Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, was convicted of sexually abusing boys in the locker room and at his home. Several prominent university officials were accused of attempting to cover up the scandal.
Lawsuit seeks endowment records
Fenchak, an investment advisor, was elected by alumni to the PSU Board of Trustees in 2022. Once on the board, he said he began seeking details about the university’s finances, believing it his responsibility as a trustee to help oversee such matters.
His lawsuit quotes a PSU Office of Investment Management document that states the board of trustees maintain “the ultimate oversight of the University’s investment assets.”
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Penn State, the ‘Sanctuary City for Pa*dophiles’?