There was a double-digit tuition hike
for students at Eastern Michigan University this year, which
was one of the stiffest in the state. Classroom buildings need
renovations and school officials say there’s not enough money.
Yet, despite these claims, the school has managed to find
money for the college president and his wife to be living in a
brand new mansion.
This mansion is provided by the
regents at one of Michigan’s tax-supported universities free
to its well-paid president, while they raise tuition and defer
other projects that would benefit students.
The presidential palace is 10,200 splendid square feet, not
counting the full, unfinished basement. It sits behind a tall
fence that surrounds the entire estate, which occupies 25%
more space than a whole city block. The mansion has 4
bedrooms, 8 bathrooms or half baths, and 2 full kitchens.
There is custom granite, expensive flooring, elegant wall and
window treatments, exquisite custom cabinetry throughout, all
that you would expect for 5 or 6 million dollars.
State Rep. Ruth Ann Jamnick, of D-Ypsilanti Twp, said
that her colleagues’ reaction to the mansion was one of awe.
She told the Investigative Team, "that seems to be the
reaction that most people have to this."
EMU in Ypsilanti is mostly a commuter school, where space
is at such a premium, the motto here could be "so many
students, so few places to park." And while there is a
beautiful new library and fine facilities for sporting events,
improvements, repairs and renovations of at least two
classroom buildings and construction of another parking garage
are all on hold for lack of funds.
Many who live on campus say conditions in their dorms are
sub-standard. Pegboard walls and infestations of bugs are
among the complaints.
Citizens, faculty and students alike are angry at college
president Samuel Kirkpatrick who seems, they say, to be
putting his own desire for a ritzy residence above the good of
the school.
Amy Yancho, an EMU sophomore, told the Investigative Team,
"I think maybe he should really rethink his spending and find
out where your priorities are lying because if they’re not
lying with the students, then why are you here?"
Jason Jackson, an EMU freshman, had similar sentiments, "I
don’t know too much about it but my professors crack jokes
about it all the time, how we go to class and light bulbs be
burned out but he got all that money to build a house."
Rep. Jamnick explained, "The people in the community were
asking me and the university for information. The information
that came was not what they were looking for didn’t answer any
questions, or didn’t come."
University officials have repeatedly stonewalled the
Investigative Team’s efforts to get the regents, the
president, or anybody to sit down and discuss the issue. They
only responded with the information the law requires them to
provide by producing boxes and boxes of maybe 20,000 pages of
documents which the Investigative Team then previewed.
Officials also responded to written questions,
defending the sprawling house as not just a dandy dwelling for
the president and his wife, but a place for "fund raising" and
"friend raising" events to benefit the school.
Yet, when asked if she believed the fancy house would lead
to tidal waves of money for the school and students, Rep.
Jamnick responded, "It’s my understanding it hasn’t yet."
In fact, building such a costly castle appears to have had
the opposite effect, suggesting to would-be donors that if the
school can afford such luxury on the president, maybe their
charity dollars are more needed elsewhere.
Only a
fraction of their goal was met before university fundraisers
decided it was fruitless to even ask for more, yet officials
still insist they’ll use other income sources and public money
will not be used.
Rep. Jamnick told the Investigative Team, "?any money that
comes in to them in any way, shape or form I personally see as
the public’s money. That may not be shared by the auditor
general’s office. It clearly wasn’t shared by the report that
the university generated."
The regents paid about $100,000 for a report that found no
criminal wrongdoing but did confirm that many expenses for the
house had been charged off to other accounts, which
effectively disguised the true cost of the project.
More than $800,000 in landscape costs were charged to
Campus Beautification. A $75,000 commercial kitchen was
charged off to Dining Services. Driveway costs of more than
$113,000 were charged to a general campus Parking and Paving
account, and more than $111,000 additional dollars for
high-tech wiring were charged to the "Campus Utility
Infrastructure Improvements" account.
It’s that kind of accounting that leads university
officials to claim the house was built within budget.
Officials claim that the house cost around $3 million, but
Rep. Jamnick told the Investigative Team, "It’s my
understanding that it’s between 5 and 6."
Critics are not only concerned with the house’s price tag,
but also what many see as a string of deception.
A document depicts what one University official claims a
$97,000 profit on the sale of another university house
President and Mrs. Kirkpatrick temporarily occupied while the
mansion was being built. Yet, when one factors in the mortgage
interest, the real estate sales commission, and all they spent
to spiff up the house to the Kirkpatrick’s standards, nearly
$20,000 was actually lost on the sale.
The university officials maintained President Kirkpatrick
and his wife had "minimal involvement" in making the house the
luxury showplace it is, we’ve obtained documents that prove
otherwise, which will be featured in later
investigations.
News
Action
Mail
PRINT
