Judge: Michigan State must disclose donor agreements for Mel Tucker contract
Michigan State University has 10 days to publicly disclose the agreements between the university and mega-donors Mat Ishbia and Stephen St. Andre used to fund much of the $95 million contract given to football coach Mel Tucker last year, according to a court decision handed down earlier this week.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Brock Swartzle ruled Monday that the university's agreements for three contributions made by United Wholesale Mortgage's Mat Ishbia and Shift Digital CEO Stephen St. Andre did not fall under privacy exemptions in the state's public records law.
The documents, Swartzle ruled, "must be produced, but MSU must redact the home addresses and estate-planning provisions within those agreements before production."
Swartzle sided with the Detroit Free Press, which sued for the records after the university repeatedly blocked the release of the agreements.
The appeals court judge noted that he reviewed the documents in question "in camera," or in chambers, and found the gift agreements are not of a personal nature nor do they present an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
"MSU has not pointed this court to a single authority applying Michigan law that supports its contention that the amounts of the gifts, the payment schedules, or the donors' expressed desires for how the university should use the funds constitutes private or confidential information," Swartzle wrote in his ruling.
MSU spokesman Dan Olsen said Tuesday the university is "reviewing the court’s decision to determine appropriate next steps and comply with its ruling."
The Detroit News reported in December 2021 that Ishbia and St. Andre were responsible for the bulk of Tucker's new 10-year, $95 million contract. But documents available at the time did not spell out how much money is coming from MSU's coffers and how much from donors.
The News has filed multiple Freedom of Information Act requests seeking details of the agreement between the university and Ishbia and St. Andre, and each request was denied by the university.
The Free Press, in December 2021, asked the East Lansing university for copies of any gift agreements with Ishbia or St. Andre in 2019, 2020 or 2021, and MSU denied the request and a later appeal, citing privacy exemptions, according to Swartzle's decision.
The Free Press filed suit in June, according to court records.
Michigan State hired Tucker as its football coach in February 2020 to replace the retired Mark Dantonio, and in November 2021, with the Spartans on their way to an 11-2 record in Tucker's season, the school gave him a contract for 10 years and $95 million that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, and the highest-paid Black coach in the country. The deal was funded in part by donations from Ishbia, a former MSU basketball player who is the billionaire owner of United Wholesale Mortgage, and St. Andre, an MSU alum who is chairman and founder of Shift Digital, a marketing company.
The university repeatedly declined to publicly break down how the contract was being funded, including how much Ishbia and St. Andre were contributing, nor if Ishbia and St. Andre would have any decision-making power on Tucker's tenure should things take a turn for the worse on the field.
Michigan State declined news-outlet requests to reveal the details under the school's own Council for Advancement and Support of Education's Donor Bill of Rights. That doesn't hold up under the state FOIA laws regarding public institutions, Swartzle ultimately decided.
"MSU cannot avoid FOIA by promising greater confidentiality than it can lawfully provide as a public institution," Swartzle wrote in his decision.
Ishbia said in a recent interview with HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" that his contribution for the Tucker contract was $14 million. He previously donated $32 million to the athletic department, $20 million of which was earmarked for renovations to the football facility, to will be named after his old coach, Tom Izzo.
Swartzle, in his decision, referenced statements Ishbia and St. Andre made to The News about their gift agreements and Tucker's contract as proof that the identity of the donors was not private.
"Both men have publicized the fact of their donations and their ties to MSU athletics," Swartzle said. "The court concludes, therefore, that the identity of the donors and the fact of their donations are not private or confidential in nature."
tpaul@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tonypaul1984