Contrary to previous reports, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln did intend to use public and NU Foundation funds to pay for William Ayers' visit, UNL said Thursday.
MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 7:00 pm
Contrary to previous reports, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln did intend to use public and NU Foundation funds to pay for William Ayers’ visit, UNL said Thursday.
Ayers’ $1,000 honorarium was to have come from state funds allocated to the College of Education and Human Sciences, UNL said. The education college had invited Ayers to deliver the keynote address at its Nov. 15 student research conference.
And Ayers was to have been reimbursed for travel, lodging and food using grant funds held at the NU Foundation, UNL said.
When UNL announced Ayers’ planned visit on Oct. 16, it said no state or foundation money would be used for the appearance.
But that statement wasn’t reviewed by campus business officials before it was made public, said Christine Jackson, vice chancellor for business and finance.
And a review of documents showing the intended source of funds for his visit — prompted, UNL spokeswoman Kelly Bartling said, by inquiries from State Auditor Mike Foley and numerous members of the public — revealed the statement was inaccurate.
“It was just an honest mistake,” Bartling said. “But there have been enough questions raised about it that we needed to figure out from the accounting standpoint what the intent was and where the funds were going to come from. …
“We’re sorry that we did provide mistaken information, and so as soon as we had the details, we made sure we were accurate.”
News of Ayers’ invitation sparked widespread public anger. On Oct. 17, UNL announced it had canceled his speech for security reasons.
Ayers, an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was selected by a faculty committee in February, long before he became a controversial figure in the presidential race.
Ayers was a founder of Weather Underground, the group that claimed responsibility for the bombings of public buildings in protest of the Vietnam War. Years later, he and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama served together on the board of an antipoverty nonprofit in Chicago.
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.