By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Tiger Rag Magazine Executive Editor Todd Horne, Louisiana Illuminator/Tiger Rag reporter Piper Hutchinson and WAFB-TV investigative reporter Chris Nakamoto are suing LSU to obtain records for how it spends public money to pay student-athletes.
New Orleans/Baton Rouge attorney Scott Sternberg, who is representing the journalists, filed the lawsuit Thursday afternoon with the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge. It argues the records should be made public because the revenue LSU spends is public money. The journalists recently requested the spending records from LSU under the state’s public records law and were denied.
“The expenditure of public funds is what government transparency laws are all, at their bedrock, fundamentally about,” Sternberg said. “Asking for records of how Louisiana government, including LSU, spends state dollars is usually not a question. These news organizations have joined together to file suit, because they believe the public’s right to know how our money is spent is sacred.”
Following the landmark House v. NCAA settlement last June, athletics departments are allowed to pay college athletes directly. LSU can now spend a maximum of $20.5 million on its players under the new rules.
LSU lawyers claim the records are exempt from public disclosure under federal student privacy law, a state law that exempts Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) agreements, and because disclosing the information would result in a competitive disadvantage for LSU.
LSU’s athletic department is primarily fueled with self-generated revenue, such as ticket sales and media rights, though it receives some taxpayer funding. All of this revenue is considered public money, and the spending of these dollars requires legislative approval.
The state has historically treated such spending as a subject to public scrutiny. The Louisiana Constitution protects the people’s right to examine public documents, with certain exceptions to the law.
“Petitioners seek records that concern LSU’s use of public dollars to make revenue-sharing payments to student athletes,” the lawsuit reads. “The public has a compelling interest in understanding how much public money is being expended and to whom.”
Of the LSU System’s $1.2 billion budget for the current fiscal year, more than $800 million comes from self-generated revenue, primarily from student tuition and fees. By law, state lawmakers must approve how this money is spent and do so in a public legislative process.
The lawsuit is not seeking LSU’s records related to the NIL deals college athletes enter into with private companies, which are exempt from disclosure under the state’s public records law. The journalists only want access to records related to how public money is spent.
Federal laws protecting student privacy do not provide a blanket exception to all student records. LSU has previously provided records related to students to Tiger Rag and the Illuminator in other public records requests, including records about student-athletes.
There is also no blanket exception in state law for information perceived to create a competitive disadvantage. LSU regularly releases information on how much it pays its employees, including president Wade Rousse ($750,000 annually) and head football coach Lane Kiffin ($13 million annually), without claiming it’s detrimental to the university.
Neither LSU’s attorneys nor athletic director Verge Ausberry and athletic department spokesman Zach Greenwell had any immediate comments on the lawsuit.
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