Wilbur says Michael Rao was president when $10 million was allocated to Events Center
Vice President of Development and External Relations Kathy Wilbur reemphasized Thursday that Michael Rao was president when Central Michigan University decided to allocate $10 million to the Events Center.
"The project was all done, all initiated and launched when President Rao was president," Wilbur said when reached by phone.
Rao, however, is not talking. Several requests have been made to Rao's office at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he became president in 2009.
He said Wednesday he “would rather questions about CMU’s projects, programs and initiatives be directed to current president George Ross,” Ann Buckley, Director of Communications and Public Relations at VCU, said in an email.
Rao chose not to make himself available personally to Central Michigan Life by phone or email, and Steve Smith, director of public relations at CMU, said he didn’t know why Rao wouldn’t comment and that it was his choice to do so.
"I would think you'd have to ask him why he wouldn't respond," Smith said. "It's not my position to respond to something like that in the first place. It's his choice."
University President George Ross told members of the media Feb. 16, following the CMU Board of Trustees meeting, that he was not at CMU when the allocation of $10 million was made to the Events Center.
“I wasn’t (at CMU), I was in Mississippi,” Ross said in a recent CM Life article, referring to his time as president of Alcorn State University. “I can’t talk about what someone said when I wasn’t here. In the records it was submitted as joint fundraising. I’d be speculating if I said anything beyond that.”
The $10 million was allocated by the university to help fund the Events Centers, a project which was intended to be funded by private donations only.
The Events Center was expected to cost $21.5 million and the university was committed to raising the funds privately, CMU Athletics Director Dave Heeke said in 2008.
The Events Center website said the facility would not be funded by the university because of “declining state appropriations.” Several parts of the website, including where it was called a "privately funded" project, were changed after Ross told Academic Senators about the $10 million allocation.
CMU allocated the $10 million from university reserves after fundraising goals for the project fell short, Ross said.
“The state of Michigan knew exactly what we were doing,” Ross said, pointing to a July 2009 board of trustees meeting in which the board approved a motion that said: “Total project cost not to exceed $21,000,000; funding to be from donations, reserve for future construction, reserve for remodeling and university recreation facility expansion reserve.”
Following the Board of Trustees meeting, board Chairman Sam Kottamasu said the fundraising remains ongoing for the Events Center.
“The center only opened 15 months ago,” he said. “The average time for fundraising is five-plus years.”
