The battle between the University of Wyoming and the media over whether or not the names of the university presidential candidates should be released to the public continued yesterday.
The opposing sides presented their arguments to District Judge Jeffrey Donnell, who ruled in favor of the media in January and said that the names of the candidates should be released.
After Donnell ruled in favor of the media, the Wyoming Legislature fast-tracked a law that would change Wyoming’s open records and meetings laws so colleges across the state could keep presidential searches secret, the Associated Press reported.
One of the biggest concerns that Donnell had was that the UW Board of Trustees was trying to keep the public in the dark without a good reason and questioned whether or not keeping the names from the public was the best idea.
“Are you saying that if something is not in the public interest then it is best to keep the public in the dark about it?” Donnell asked defense attorney Bruce Salzburg.
Salzburg said that was not the case.
“I wouldn’t phrase it like that,” Salzburg said.
Salzburg reminded the judge that the reason this case came about is because the media in the state originally asked for travel documents from the university and not just the names of the candidates.
“I think it’s important to remember that these documents didn’t exist when they asked for them and they don’t exist now,” Salzburg said.
Salzburg also argued that as a result of the ruling made by Donnell, some of the candidates have dropped out of the process, which is why the university has been hesitant to release the names to begin with.
Donnell then questioned why the university felt it was okay to have a public search for a new dean, but not for a president.
“I’m wondering if UW is under the impression that it got the low grade on the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, which was an open search,” Donnell said. “Is it okay for people in lower positions to have open searches but not for the big boss?”
Salzburg argued that deans were a different scenario because they were usually expected to seek higher positions anyway.
“It’s expected for professors and deans to seek higher positions, but a president’s position is as high as it can go,” Salzburg said.
Plaintiff attorney Bruce Moats then took the stand and said that the legislature’s ruling could not have an influence over a court ruling that was made prior to the passing of its bill.
“The legislature is overstepping its bounds here,” he said.
Moats also argued there was not as much of a risk of the selection process being affected as the university has said there will be.
“There are not sufficient findings that suggest that the harm would outweigh the public interest,” Moats said.
Donnell did not make a decision on Wednesday and says he sees this case ending in one of three ways.
“Either we find that the legislature’s statute does apply and we end up back here, or it does not apply and UW appeals the case, or the Board of Trustees declares this presidential search a bust and starts all over again,” he said.
By starting over with a new presidential search, the Board of Trustees would officially be able to keep the next search closed under the legislature’s ruling.
Either way, Donnell noted that this could continue to be a long process.
“I hope to retire in the next few years,” Donnell said. “I hope this is over by then.”
