This story wouldn’t be that hard to get a handle on for an enterprising journalist in Tuscon. $60K is a tremendous amount of money. And, virtually all large, public universities have legal obligations that must satisfied when spending that kind of money. For instance, there might open bid requirements, or there might be minority vendor requirements, or there might be capital expenditure filings that all need to be satisfied before that kind of cash walks out the door.
Don’t believe me? Read your hometown newspaper’s legal section, and I PROMISE that you will find procurement notices for your local, public college for sums of materials, products and services valued WAY below $60K. Somebody paid for these tee-shirts, and if it truly was the university, then there will be a paper-trail a mile wide. If there isn’t, there will still be a paper-trail, but probably a little harder to find. 501c-3s still have to file detailed expense reports with the IRS.
A public records request should get the information out quickly. Just need to find a local person, preferrably an attorney, to make the request. Should be able to get the info within 5-10 days.
Better yet, get a local newspaper to make the request and write it up as a story.
True, and taking all that preliminary stuff into consideration, how did they also manage to have them printed, shipped, and ready for distribution in what?, 3 days?
It’s kind of like those docs I saw acting giddy over the fact that their patient, as they admitted they had hoped, just happened to open her eyes just in time for the President.
it’s not rocket science and it’s just not adding up.