On October 15, 2008 the Minneapolis StarTribune ran an article in their South Metro section by Sarah Lamagie titled "Grinch comes early for SaveWCAL" that reported on St. Olaf College President David Anderson's decision to deny SaveWCAL board members tickets to the St. Olaf Festival.
In the StarTribune article, Lamagie writes:
The college, renowned for its music program, gives out free Christmas festival tickets that are highly coveted by students, their families and alumni. St. Olaf doesn't have enough tickets for everyone, and it didn't want them to go to SaveWCAL board members, who have forced the college to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and used a website [http://SaveWCAL.net] for a "campaign of, basically, near-harassment," said Steve Blodgett, St. Olaf's director of marketing and communications.
SaveWCAL once again strongly encourages St. Olaf College leaders and spokespeople to become familiar with the information on our web site and carefully check their own information for accuracy before publicly committing themselves to comments and positions that may eventually prove problematic and/or embarrassing in light of past, current and possible future court proceedings. What sort of comments and positions?
This is yet another example of the College attempting to assign blame to others instead of accepting responsibility for its own actions.
The only reason that the College has had to expend "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in legal fees is their own fault — because St. Olaf College has not handled the WCAL charitable trust / endowment correctly and legally!!
In fact, Rice County District Court Judge Gerald Wolf clearly pointed out that neither St. Olaf nor the Minnesota Attorney General acted appropriately in the matter of the WCAL charitable trust in his Introduction To The Legal Analysis of his court Order handed down in June:
The only watchdog looking out for the interests of the trust in this case was the Respondent, the non-profit organization SaveWCAL. SaveWCAL raised the alarm when they first learned of the sale of WCAL by St. Olaf, but neither St. Olaf nor the Minnesota Attorney General's Office paid any heed to SaveWCAL's warning.
The College chooses to publicly accuse its own alumni and donors of "near-harassment". Instead, SaveWCAL believes that our efforts should be more accurately described "appropriately holding those responsible accountable for their actions".
We note that Blodgett's "near-harassment" comment was removed from a number of the versions of the StarTribune story that appeared on other news sites (see below) — and we're happy about that. The choice of words was unfortunate. That said, those disparaging comments have apparently given our efforts even more legitimacy and credibility in the eyes of some members of the public.
Then Blodgett went on to comment:
"My impression is the college and administration have been very, very patient with SaveWCAL and their ongoing litany of actions," Blodgett said. "At what point do you say, 'Enough is enough?'"
One possibe answer?
When the Court has determined that enough is enough — and it hasn't done so up to this point. Instead, it has indicated that enough has not yet been done. Again, we refer you to Judge Wolf's Introduction To The Legal Analysis of his court Order:
Now, the Court is faced with a plethora of issues to unravel in the aftermath of St. Olaf's unapproved sale of WCAL and the Minnesota Attorney General's Office's breach of its duties in this case.
As to the accusation of a "litany of actions", let's look at the facts. A litany is a "series of petitions". As Wikipedia notes, "The word comes from the Latin litania, from the Greek λιτή (litê), meaning 'prayer' or 'supplication'."
In the Fall of 2004, SaveWCAL undertook a number of actions to try to open meaningful dialogue with the St. Olaf College leadership and/or halt the sale. Instead, the St. Olaf leadership and Board of Regents treated us – alumni and friends of the College sincerely seeking moderation and mediation — with undisguised contempt and were dismissive of our "supplications". These are facts, not opinions, and are borne out by the evidence gathered and presented on this web site.
The only previous legal proceeding on St. Olaf's Original and Amended Petition was initiated by St. Olaf College (not SaveWCAL) in 2006, when it finally recognized that the law requires the trustee of a charitable trust to ask the court for permission to use assets entrusted to it for purposes other than those intended by the donors. The court then gave SaveWCAL attorney Michael McNabb permission to participate in the hearing — and fireworks resulted.
The current proceeding, the Petition To Redress Breach Of Trust recently filed by our organization, is the only court action ever initiated by SaveWCAL — a far cry from what the College claims is a "litany of actions".
"Impressions" can be deceiving and we once again invite the public to thoroughly review the information on this site to get a more accurate and complete picture of the WCAL saga.
SaveWCAL also noted some of the comments posted to the StarTribune article by readers. For example,
"St. Olaf College, according to Rice County District Court, violated Minnesota law pertaining to the WCAL Charitable Trust and the sale of the radio station to Minnesota Public Radio. It is clear to anyone not PR flacking for or drawing an income from the college who has read the Court findings that the participating (and former) College administrators and Board of Regents approved a sale they knew was corrupt. SaveWCAL's good work on the matter should prompt charitable trusts throughout the state to honor their legal responsibilities regarding gifts. The Courts will move deliberately and slowly on this matter. Patience is needed…"
and
"Who knew the administration of St. Olaf could be so petty and vindictive. And damn .. the PR hack for St. Olaf really needs to get a new job. You NEVER imply negativity on an opponent unless you want your organization to look like .. well .. like St. Olaf does right now. All in all .. St. Olaf sold an important asset – greedily and apparently illegally per Minnesota state law – valued by students and alumni and are now trying desperately to seem like they are the injured party. Spare me .."
There have been some interesting responses to the story. Reporter David Brauer wrote in the MinnPost.com Daily Glean:
Sheesh. You'd think St. Olaf would want to keep the long-running "SaveWCAL" dispute out of the headlines, but they get petty and deny the group's board members seats for the school's Christmas concert, the Strib's Sarah Lemagie reports. Yes, [Save]WCAL has waged an indefatigable and quixotic battle to "save" a classical radio station that's never coming back, but one board member nails it when she says the group shouldn't be penalized for strongly held beliefs. Christmas — peace on earth, remember?
And the writer of The Mississippifarian blog commented in the posting "October Surprise":
WCAL was entrusted with a portion of our airwaves, but [St. Olaf College] chose to sell their venerable station to the MPR Borg. Words really can't express how unseemly this is. You have to wonder what that money's been used for, and whether it's really in St. Olaf's best interest not to have a radio station.
Apparently the StarTribune article was picked up by the Associated Press. It has started appearing in news outlets around the region and country (see below). The news report was also featured on LoopyNews.com, As any good watchdog guarding a trust — and well-trained by an excellent Norwegian-American Lutheran college education — would say: "Woof da!"
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – WKBT-TV in La Crosse, WI [http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=9180996&nav=menu239_2]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – Fort Mills Times in Fort Mill, SC [http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/324404.html]
- Grinch comes early for SaveWCAL and St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – Examiner.com Minneapolis [http://www.examiner.com/r-2866882~Grinch_comes_early_for_SaveWCAL.html and http://www.examiner.com/a-1638902~St__Olaf_won_t_give_tickets_to_SaveWCAL_board.html]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, MN [http://wcco.com/local/st.olaf.saveWCAL.2.840920.html]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – KTTC-TV in Rochester, MN [http://www.kttc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9180996&nav=menu1348_2_2]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – KXMC in Minot, ND [http://www.kxmc.com/News/Nation/285940.asp]
- Grinch comes early for SaveWCAL – Wikio.com [http://www.wikio.com/search/savewcal]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – West Central Tribune Online in Willmar, MN [http://www.wctrib.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D93QVT204]
- St. Olaf Won't Give Tickets to SaveWCAL Board – KAAL-TV in Albert Lea, MN [http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S619381.shtml?cat=10217]
- St. Olaf Won't Give Tickets to SaveWCAL Board – WXOW-TV in La Crosse, WI [http://www.wxow.com/Global/story.asp?S=9180996]
- Grinch comes early for SaveWCAL – AirTalents.com [http://www.airtalents.com/news.php?news_id=1766}
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board - Winona Daily News in Winona, MN [http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2008/10/16/mn/17minn.txt]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – KXMB-TV in Bismarck/Mandan, ND [http://www.kxmb.com/News/Nation/285940.asp]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – KSTP 1500 AM Radio in the Twin Cities [http://www.am1500.com/categoryfolders/Stories/S619280.shtml]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – KX.net in Bismarck/Mandan, ND [http://www.kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?s=rss&ArticleId=285942]
- It's beginning to look a lot like vindictiveness – Same Old Rowdy Crowd blog [http://thesamerowdycrowd.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-vindictiveness/]
- In defense of the Grinch – Bi-Coloured Python Rock Snake blog [http://bicolouredpythonrocksnake.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-defense-of-grinch.html]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – La Crosse Tribune in La Crosse, WI [http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/10/16/mn/17minn.txt]
- St. Olaf won't give tickets to SaveWCAL board – Worthington Daily Globe in Worthington, MN [http://www.dglobe.com/ap/index.cfm?page=more&ap_section=mn]
- Minnesota on the Web
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
A more apropos question for the first line of the StarTribune article is:
"How do music-loving Lutheran college alumni deal with a troublesome group of college administrators?"
I would also point out that the Christmas Fest tickets issue is far from "petty". It's called discrimination — it's a very serious issue.
Is there a formal college policy that allows the college president to freely discriminate as to who will and who will not receive a ticket to a public event at the campus? What other discriminatory actions has this president made (on his own authority) during his tenure, and does the St. Olaf Board of Regents approve of such behavior by the college president?
"Petty" indeed. WWJD (what would Jesus do)? It's hard to imagine that He would turn people away from His own birthday party and celebration. Considering the current situation at the college, I can imagine He might want to show up and overturn a few tables and throw a few people out. Moneychangers in the temple, indeed.
What a wonderful Christian college they are.
Great news!!!!!!!! Keep up the good work and great fight.
Sorry to hear about the Grinch (David Anderson) — you have my support. I have talked to several alumni who are very upset about Anderson's attitude. One wrote to Anderson to ask him if it was true and got an e-mail response with just "Yes" which really upset them that Anderson cavalierly brushed them aside.
This is certainly not one of St. Olaf's finest hours.
Oh! Hear that, St. Olaf administration? That's the sound of an alumnus giving money to SaveWCAL because you're acting like petulant little kids. Ka-ching!
SaveWCAL responds:
Thank you for your generous contribution and support! It is deeply appreciated.
The whole WCAL thing saddens me so. I miss being able to listen to concerts and chapel services from St. Olaf. I also think it's petty to deny Christmas festival tickets.
Also, it seems that another Minnesota favorite has fallen at least in part to the WCAL transition to MPR's "The Current". MPR's Morning Show hosted by Dale Connolly & Jim Ed Poole is apparently being canceled later this year, ostensibly because of Tom Keith's desire to retire from it. However, the drastic change in playlist after the move to "The Current" cannot have helped this show's sustainability. They seemed to stop playing folk music, comedy and light classics, and go with the same kind of music that station plays during the rest of the day. My guess is that, like myself, many of the show's long time listeners had to abandon it when it was no longer distinguishable from every other rock & roll station. So sad.
Someone call the fire department…
GREAT article!!! Keep the faith.
What do you want SaveWCAL supporters to do on the 24th? May we show up at the courthouse?
SaveWCAL responds:
The hearing on SaveWCAL's Petition To Redress Breach of Trust has been set for Friday, October 24, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. at the Rice County Courthouse in Faribault, Minnesota. The presiding judge will be Judge Bernard E. Borene. The public may attend the hearing. Maps and directions to the Courthouse in Faribault are available at Google Maps, MapQuest or Yahoo! Maps.
Having worked for D. Anderson, his sophmoric and petty behavior does not surprise me one wit. We thought it mightily strange that he was chosen as the St. O. prexy in the first place after an unpopular tenure at a sister institution, but egads, this is over the top. Grow UP!
Thought you would like to know that the St. Cloud Times picked up the Christmas ticket episode in the October 12 issue.
SaveWCAL responds:
Thank you for letting us know. We've been unable to find a link to the article on the site (http://www.sctimes.com), so if someone has the actual URL, we'd appreciate receiving it.
Have you seen Gary Hornseth's post, "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Vindictiveness" on The Same Rowdy Crowd blog? The comments are priceless!
SaveWCAL responds:
Thank you for making us aware of this. Gary Hornseth also wrote a Letter to the Editor to the StarTribune when WCAL went off the air in 2004.
I am really shocked at the current President's decision to ban SaveWCAL members from receiving tickets for the Christmas Festival. This is unbecoming for an institution of St. Olaf College's stature. I stopped donating to the college when the WCAL sale happened, and now I am resolved not to contribute anymore to the college until such inane behavior is quelled. It saddens me that my alma mater which gave me so much has now stooped so low in its actions the past few years.
I think it is only fitting that the college is held accountable for such reckless behavior in this venture, and for treading on the toes of dedicated alumni. I hope it soon stops. The institution is too good for current presidents to act in such a manner.