Bright spot in audit: One University of Louisville official asked if she was being paid too much

Andrew Wolfson | Courier Journal

Nobody came off looking great in the scathing audit of the University of Louisville’s free-spending foundation released this month, but one high-ranking official seemed to have tried to do the right thing:

Provost and Executive Vice President Shirley Willihnganz.

In a Feb. 1, 2012, memo to President James Ramsey’s chief of staff, Kathleen Smith, Willihnganz complained she might be being paid too much.

“I am worried that I’m now being overcompensated,” Willihnganz wrote. “I don’t remember anything being in the contract about additional $50,000 annual contributions from 2010, 11 and 12.”

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In a reply a few hours later, Smith said, “You make a good point.” But on retirement contracts, she added, “we are deliberately ambiguous because ambiguity is in the employee’s favor.”

Smith then explained the $50,000 was provided in an amendment of Willihnganz’s contract.

“Jim needs you,” Smith wrote, speaking of then-President Ramsey, “as does the University, as his provost.”

Willihnganz, who is retired, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

In an email, Smith’s lawyer, Ann Oldfather, said Willihnganz wasn’t suggesting that she might be being paid too much in “absolute terms,” as in ‘I am making too much and don’t deserve it,’ ’’ but instead in relation to her contract.

“They were discussing Shirley’s CONTRACT and how it was drafted,” Oldfather said.

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She said the audit report wrongly suggests there was something “nefarious” in the exchange. “They made everything that was a business judgment call sound like a scheme to rip off the foundation,” Oldfather said.

Willihnganz could afford to be generous in declining pay she thought might not be deserved; the audit said her total compensation from the university and foundation from 2010 to 2015 was $6,795,339.

“Obviously if the foundation and president want to give me this, I’ll be grateful,” she told Smith in the email. “But I also don’t want to take advantage if this was a mistake … and if I just misread everything and all is well, will be very happy to be wrong.”

Willihnganz, who was credited with dramatically increasing U of L’s graduation rate and other academic successes in 13 years as provost, announced in February 2015 that she was stepping down.

The university said at the time that her salary was $342,694, but the Courier-Journal reported she had received about $1.8 million in deferred compensation from the U of L Foundation in 2012.

Lawyer: Deferred millions for Ramsey and chief of staff wasn't secret

The university defended that payment — as well as $2.8 million paid that year to Ramsey and about $1.3 million to Smith — saying they were necessary to retain Ramsey and keep his team intact.

But the story ignited additional news coverage and scrutiny from the board of trustees and other entities that ultimately led to Ramsey's forced resignation in 2016 and the revamping of the foundation.

Another red flag

One foundation employee tried to sound the alarm that it was spending too much.

Justin Ruhl, director of accounting operations, who also worked for outside accountant BKD, warned in a September 2013 email that $4.9 million in "off the top" spending from the endowment could become a problem.

In a May 2016 email, also sent to chief financial officer Jason Tomlinson, Ruhl again cautioned that the foundation had exceeded its spending policy and that spending was unsustainable.

Tomlinson was placed on paid leave earlier this month. The foundation also dropped BDK as its accountant. Ruhl still works for the foundation.

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at 502-582-7189 or awolfson@courier-journal.com.