News outlets sue University of Minnesota

By The Associated Press

11.11.02

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MINNEAPOLIS — A collection of news organizations sued the University of Minnesota Board of Regents on Nov. 8, accusing it of violating the state's open-meetings law in the process of appointing a president.

Robert Bruininks, who had been interim president of the school, was announced Nov. 7 as the only finalist and was officially appointed the next day.

Board chairwoman Maureen Reed said earlier last week that interviews with finalists would be private because candidates said they would withdraw their names if they were made public.

The parent companies of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, along with the Minnesota Daily student newspaper, the Rochester (Minn.) Post-Bulletin and the Minnesota Joint Media Committee, claim the board violated the state's open-meetings law.

"They made a strong statement that adherence to the open-meeting law was voluntary on their part," said Eric Jorstad, an attorney for the news outlets.

Mark Rotenberg, an attorney for the university, said the regents did not disobey the law. "The search process, as a whole, was not closed to the public," Rotenberg said on Nov. 8. "A small portion ... was confidential, and I think most folks will understand why."

Rotenberg also said that the law did not apply to the university. "There's no evidence the open-meeting law was designed to deal with this particular situation, where one of the largest research universities in the United States is looking for a president," he said.

The news organizations want the names of the other finalists, and also seek court costs and attorney fees.