OSU regents shouldn't live high on the hog while serving the public interest

Yahoo

07-04-2025

The melodious sounds of a string quartet. The delightfulness of a smoky whiskey. Open bars. More flowers than you'd see at a funeral. It has all the makings of a lavish, big-budget wedding.
But don't cue 'Here Comes the Bride.'
These luxurious accommodations and the spending that goes with them are happening in conjunction with public board meetings
A nine-member oversight board Oklahoma has entrusted to ensure that many of our public colleges and universities are spending money wisely apparently feels entitled to live high on the hog while doing so.
It would be delightfully ironic, but for the fact that an Oklahoma Voice analysis of receipts provided in response to an open records request found that the sumptuous tastes of the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges have resulted in over $69,000 in combined costs connected to just 13 meetings. And, that excludes mileage reimbursement requests, which adds another $11,000 to the tab.
In short, every time these regents meet, it costs an average of over $6,100, including mileage.
These board members are entrusted to oversee the Oklahoma State University system, along with Connors State College, Langston University, Northeast Oklahoma A&M College and Oklahoma Panhandle State University.
This spending is problematic in part because our regents are doing nothing to curtail the expectation that presidents and schools must pay dearly for board members to attend obscenely expensive junkets and entertain them while they're doing the taxpayers' business.
Records indicate that most often the bulk of those tabs are born by the college or university that is hosting them. That means our tax dollars are paying for them to hold elaborate feasts that serve dozens of unnamed people items like 8 oz. filet, salmon, boneless beef short ribs, pit ham and stuffing, roasted garlic whipped potatoes and gravy and cast iron butter cake.
Somehow when the regents met over two days in September, officials managed to spend close to $6,600 on dinner, $250 on breakfast and almost $1,100 on lunch.
Most cost-conscious boards would order a few pizzas, get a box of doughnuts or a fruit tray from the local grocery store, or bring their own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
This king- and queen-like gluttony is tone-deaf to the fact that over 1 in 5 college students are food insecure, meaning they're skipping meals or eating less because they can't afford it. OSU's fundraising arm reports that the university's food insecurity rate is actually closer to 1 in 2 students. The spending is also outrageous given the struggles many Oklahoma families currently face to pay their bills.
And while these officials are living large, four of the five schools that these regents oversee increased tuition. While OSU did not, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, which hosted one of these board meetings, increased its tuition 5.5%.
So while some of these campuses are forking out thousands to wine and dine their governing board, students are suffering with higher tuition rates or fees.
How is that a good use of money?
It's further troubling that none of the sitting members could be bothered to answer specific questions about the expenditures. Only one, now a former member, was willing to talk with a reporter about the rationale behind the spending. Additionally, we discovered that these regents don't have individual public email addresses clearly listed on their governing board's website. That sends a clear signal that they have very little interest in being accountable to the public they're tasked with representing.
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The board has faced increased scrutiny in recent days following the abrupt resignation of OSU's former President Kayse Shrum in February.
And while there are no specific receipts related to alcohol purchases, the former board member said they have access to open bars, and records show we've paid for them to have a bartender. There's no reason people should be drinking alcoholic beverages while participating in state business.
If that's not gross enough, some of our board attended a 'Board of Regents Night Cap' 'social,' and records show the OSU Foundation, which is supposed to use donor dollars 'to make a lasting impact on the students, faculty and programs that inspire us,' imprudently used funding to buy regents shot glasses and other items to facilitate a 'Whiskey Tasting.' They also paid over $1,000 to host a hospitality suite for these regents and even bought them personalized cookies.
Is that what donors intended their money to pay for? If I were a donor, I wouldn't want my money spent on that.
Enough is enough.
There's a certain sick humor to the situation given the fact that this D.C. swamp-level of extravagance is apparently happening under the noses of Republicans who are on a quest to reduce waste. Gov. Kevin Stitt, who appointed all these folks, in particular is focused on it.
This is not an acceptable way to spend money. Board members should certainly be compensated for their mileage, and possibly a reasonable hotel stay if they live two hours or more away from a meeting site. And perhaps they should get a $30 meal voucher. But these meetings should not be wracking up over $50,000 in catering costs and thousands more in other expenses like purchasing fresh flowers.
If regents don't want to serve without all the frippery, that's fine. Stitt can find someone else who will.
Janelle Stecklein is editor of Oklahoma Voice. An award-winning journalist, Stecklein has been covering Oklahoma government and politics since moving to the state in 2014.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU regents should avoid excessive spending for meetings | Opinion