I emailed President Deitz for a comment, he passed it to Jay Groves who refused to comment by email. I’ve spoken to Jay twice on the phone. Here are his comments, as best as I could transcribe our conversations:
- 3 people from the same family working for Administration doesn’t violate ISU policy. Larry Lyons doesn’t supervise his son and daughter-in-law even though he is the Athletics Director and there are only 10 people in Administration.
- I can FOIA the invoices for use of the facilities in 5-7 days. They should be available by then.
- Taxpayers didn’t pay for the football stadium or the baseball field. They are funded with private money and student fees. Student athletic fees built Red Bird arena, but when it was paid off, the fees were transferred to new projects.
- When Matt Lyons was hired, the Athletics Department received a waiver from posting the position because they needed to hire quickly. Two other employees had left during a fund raising campaign.
Jay: Email me if I got anything wrong or missed something.
See this update too: http://blnnews.com/2014/07/17/more-on-the-wedding-at-isu/
___________________________________________________
by: Diane Benjamin
The ISU Athletics Department has 10 administrators: http://www.goredbirds.com/staff.aspx?path=general
Larry Lyons was named interim director of athletics 1/2/2011.
Lyons was named director after Gary Friedman resigned June 30th 2013. Outgoing President Al Bowman gave the job to Lyons two days before he retired. It appears there was no job postings or other interviews.
Friedman was paid $206,000 to leave plus $70,000 for expenses.
Did you know about Friedman? First Flanagan gets almost $500,000, now Friedman gets $276,000! How many others have been paid off to leave?
Back to the Athletics Department:
Matt Lyons was named assistant athletics director for development on 7/11/2011. Matt just happens to be Larry’s son.
Then on June 28, 2014 Matt married another member of the administration staff – Laure Beth Nagle.
They didn’t just get married, they got married on the ISU baseball field. Sources tell me the rehearsal dinner was held in the club room of the new football stadium. Very cool for 3 people who work in the athletics department, but what did they pay for this extravaganza?
July 14, 2014
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request
Dear Ms. Benjamin:
Thank you for your request for information pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. On
July 9, 2014, you requested the following:
Copies of paid invoices for use of the facilities for the wedding and rehearsal dinner of LB Nagel and Matt Lyons.
Copy of State policy that allows one family member to supervise other family members.
Your request is granted in part and denied in part. This event took place on June 28, 2014. No invoice has yet been generated for this event. In addition, we do not have copies of “State” policy, however; attached is the University’s policy 3.1.3 on Family Relationships. No University employee “directly participates” in personnel decisions regarding a member of his/her immediate family, pursuant to this policy.
Doesn’t father supervising son and now his new daughter-in-law violate this policy? Does Dad have power to raise salaries? Why has no invoice for using taxpayer funded facilities been generated yet? Who paid to set up and clean up the baseball field and rehearsal dinner room? Was ISU staff used?
Current Salaries – also obtained under the Freedom of information Act:
One more thing:
Larry Lyons salary history from 2000- 2010. Remember he is earning $204,000 now.
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Typical CYA coming from the University mouthpiece Jay Groves. I am sure President Dietz will not see anything wrong with this either since this is politics as usual within any governmental branch/agency in the State of Illinois. Groves tried to brush the Flanigan scandal under the rug but failed.
Jay-Rod, if you are speaking for the President, your excuse of having the Lyons husband and wife tandem not reporting directly to Big Daddy Larry is lame. I guess AD Lyons has no oversight on development or promotions for the department.
I guess he needed to hire a Deputy (Barney Fife) Athletic Director, bring him back after a few years hiatus from ISU and double his salary to have the Lyons kids report to him so Pops wouldn’t have any strings attached. Weak.
I bet the athletic business office is now hurriedly getting the rehearsal and wedding invoices processed as soon as possible.
I told Jay the public wouldn’t but it.
So I think a major question would be — would someone from the public be allowed to rent the stadium for a similar event? If no…then yes, this is a huge issue. If they can…then they should be easily able to tell you how much it would cost to rent these spaces. When I worked for ISU, I had my wedding reception in the Bone Ballroom. Although I worked in the building at the time, I paid for everything separately and was treated like a customer. (and quite frankly, the catering and building staff were wonderful!) Course…Student Affairs (who runs the Bone) is a bit more above reproach than Athletics. For example, Brent Paterson was named interim vice president for Student Affairs after Dietz was moved to the role of President. With this promotion of Brent, that now makes him a supervisor for his wife, Jan. Unfortunately, she will be leaving the division later this summer due to the conflict of interest. Sad to see her go as she has been a positive force within the division, but I respect their following the state, and university policy.