Jason Williams

jwilliams@enquirer.com

The University of Cincinnati is refusing to release emails, travel records and other public documents regarding the possibility of it gaining membership in the Big 12 Conference, which may consider expansion later this week.

The Enquirer asked for the documents, including UC President Santa Ono's travel records, in a Nov. 17 public records request. Two UC attorneys recently completed their review of the documents, usually a final step before public records are released.

But in an unusual move, UC's general counsel instead gave the documents to the Board of Trustees last week, said Kenya Faulkner, the university's top attorney.

"They asked to see them, and I had to turn them over," said Faulkner, vice president for legal affairs and general counsel. "They've never asked me to do that before."

It's possible UC officials are trying to be careful not to risk messing up a potential opportunity to move into a major conference, which could generate millions of dollars for the university, raise UC's national profile and move it to the right side of a growing divide between the haves and have-nots in college sports.

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But withholding the documents raises questions about transparency at a public university, which has an annual budget of $1 billion and is the largest employer in Greater Cincinnati. It's also a potential violation of state open records law.

The decision to withhold the documents comes as Big 12 Conference officials and member university presidents and athletic directors are scheduled to hold their annual meetings later this week. Officials are expected to discuss expansion, according to the Sporting News and other media outlets. UC often has been mentioned in media reports that it could be invited to join the league.

"We are concerned that these records have been so hard to come by," Enquirer Editor Peter Bhatia said. "Our goal is simply to tell the story of UC’s process with the Big 12. It is an important story for Cincinnati and the university.”

The Enquirer asked UC to release travel records for Ono, athletic director Mike Bohn and other top administrators, specifically for trips taken to meet with Big 12 Conference officials and the 10 member schools since Oct. 1, 2014. The Enquirer also requested emails between Ono, Bohn, other top UC administrators and officials with the Big 12 Conference and each of the league's member schools.

UC also was asked to release any videos, brochures, presentation materials and other documents produced for purposes of promoting the university to the Big 12.

On Dec. 15, UC attorney Katherine Miefert told The Enquirer the university was working quickly to gather the documents and had no intention of withholding the records from the public. In January, however, UC officials stopped returning messages from The Enquirer about the records request.

The university remained silent about the records until Faulkner provided her explanation on Tuesday.

Moving into a new conference is essentially a business deal, and universities typically have been secretive about it since a significant number of conference shifts began nearly five years ago.

Ono raised speculation about a UC-Big 12 courtship on Jan. 20, when he posted a Twitter message about a popular Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas, becoming his new favorite place to eat in that city. The Big 12's University of Texas is based in Austin. Texas and the University of Oklahoma are considered the conference's power brokers.

Many observers believe those two schools – each steeped in college football lore – will have the final say on whether the Big 12 expands and which schools will be invited to join.

Ono did not return multiple messages seeking comment. Bohn declined comment.

The Board of Trustees held its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Tuesday, the first time it met since receiving the documents from general counsel. Trustees did not publicly discuss the Big 12-related records that were turned up from The Enquirer's request.

After holding a public meeting for more than two hours, Chairman Tom Humes said trustees would enter into an executive session. Humes, however, did not ask for a motion to convene the private session, a step required by state open meetings law. In addition, no grounds were stated for justifying closing the meeting to the public and no roll call vote was taken of board members – each of these also potential violations of state open meetings law.

Faulkner declined comment when asked about the potential violation.

UC spokesman Greg Vehr told The Enquirer that Humes later realized he had not taken all the necessary steps to enter into the executive session. Humes did take those steps after getting "upstairs," or out of public view. Taking the proper steps after a meeting has already been closed still represents a violation of Ohio open meetings law.

"While the timing and logistics were not perfect, he believes that the appropriate steps were followed," Vehr said of Humes.

Whether or not board members were discussing the Big 12 and The Enquirer's records request is unknown. The university told The Enquirer the closed-door session focused on discussions of real estate, of a personnel-related matter, of "matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or regulations or state statutes" and of "disputes involving the University."

There's no doubt UC covets the millions of dollars and prestige that would come from being in a conference with traditional football powers Texas and Oklahoma and basketball elite Kansas.

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Last year, Forbes valued the Big 12 at $253 million ($25.3 million per member) in the magazine's annual rankings of the most lucrative major conferences. UC's American Athletic Conference, conversely, was valued at $57 million ($4.7 million per school).

The Big 12 has the fewest members (10) among the so-called Power Five football conferences, which have access to play in the lucrative college football playoff. Several schools are considered candidates for the Big 12, including Brigham Young and UC's current conference rivals Connecticut, Houston and Central Florida. Still, there are no guarantees the conference is going to expand, according to multiple media reports.

Enquirer reporter Tom Groeschen contributed.