St. Olaf College has issued a brief press release regarding the recent Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling re SaveWCAL's Petition To Redress Breach Of Trust.
The posting on their site includes the following:
A Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling filed Dec. 29, 2009, effectively ended a legal challenge by opponents of the sale of WCAL to Minnesota Public Radio in 2004. The appeals court upheld a district court’s finding that opponents had waited too long in bringing suit and seeking redress.
In February 2009 a Rice County District Court judge rejected a lawsuit brought by a group called SaveWCAL that attempted to overturn the sale and bar St. Olaf from using any of the proceeds from the transaction. Judge Bernard Borene ruled that SaveWCAL had no real legal standing to bring such a suit in the first place, that too much time had passed in any case, and that the substance of the complaint had no merit. In doing so, Judge Borene rejected SaveWCAL’s arguments that St. Olaf and MPR had acted improperly in arranging the sale and that St. Olaf had violated a charitable trust that supposedly had been created by listener donations to operate the station, concluding that no such trust existed.
For media coverage of the Minnesota Court of Appeals verdict, see the Star Tribune story.
Did you notice that St. Olaf points people towards a StarTribune article — but not towards the easily downloadable copy of the actual Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling (pdf)?
Could it be that they do not want people reading the actual ruling?
Yes.
Why? Because the Appeals Court decision has a section at the beginning of the ruling called "Facts" that NONE of the parties dispute and which begins to lift the veil on St. Olaf 's true conduct with regards to the sale of WCAL.
We also note that St. Olaf refers to rulings made by Judge Borene — rulings that the Appeals Court pointedly did not affirm.
Check it out for yourself!
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RT @SaveWCAL St. Olaf shares the news — but not the whole story [link to post] }Selective disclosure… #Minnesota
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They would have done better not to post anything at all.
I have never met a more honorable group of people than those who supported SaveWCAL and will never forget our strong efforts to right the wrong done by St. Olaf through its Board of Regents, President Thomforde, and VP Jan McDaniel. Anyone donating money to a charitable organization today had better think long and hard about the twin issues of Trust and trust in that organization, whether a "college of the church" or otherwise. Integrity is important and St. Olaf failed miserably on many fronts in the act of selling WCAL and its aftermath. As an alumna I will no longer donate a penny to St. Olaf and will not hesitate to tell the fundraisers, including Class Agents, why St. Olaf failed in its duty to protect the Trust and our trust.
A million thanks to SaveWCAL President Ruth Sylte and to our attorney Michael McNabb who showed such great ethical leadership from the beginning in 2004 even before the sale was final. Thanks also to the SaveWCAL Board and other supporters who most certainly know the meaning of integrity and honesty.
You know, it would be interesting to have a conversation about why this was a very good decision by St. Olaf and their mission of educating students. That is their mission BTW, not running a radio station per se. They sold an asset when it was at its peak value, and are using that money to continue their educational mission. While I grieve the loss of WCAL, as many do, my personal desires should not be the driving force behind decisions by the regents at St. Olaf. I mean, should the fact that WCAL was my first choice in listening to the radio, should that carry more weight that educating students at St. Olaf? Those of you who say you won't give any more money to St. Olaf, are you more concerned about the loss of your personal radio station or the future of this great college? There's a "baby and the bath water" thing going on here.
Maybe St. Olaf thought people would rather read a news story than wade through a legal opinion.
This case was never about "our/my personal radio station" and was never the "driving force" behind this case. Legal issues, not personal ones, were consistently put forward and discussed on this website and available to anyone who reads the site. Lengthy legal documents have always been available for download from the webside. I chose to donate my money to groups which honor the intent of the donors. Obviously St. Olaf has very publicly demonstrated their unwillingness to do so.