By Matt Thacker

The Louisville Cardinal filed an appeal last week with Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo after U of L’s SGA officials refused to provide written minutes from Academic Vice President Sarah Hester’s removal hearing.

By a senate vote, the questioning and discussion portions of the hearing were held behind closed doors, barring the public, including non-SGA witnesses and members of the press, from being present. The removal vote, though, took place in public.

Supreme Court Justice Michelle Grant said the SGA senators at the hearing wanted the trial to be closed to the public because of concerns that Hester’s privacy would be violated if information about her past medical problems were made public.

“The hearing was closed because it concerned what is analogous to a personnel matter and, more specifically, could have concerned how a student’s health impacted her ability to perform a job,” Grant said.

Editor in Chief of The Cardinal Mallory Bowman said if reporters had been allowed to attend the hearing, the focus would not have been on Hester’s medical situation but on whether she had fulfilled the requirements of her position. She said even if The Cardinal loses the appeal she will have no regrets because she wants to serve “the best interests of the students.”

“Until elected campus officials are willing to disclose information to the student body, it is impossible to have a democracy on campus,” Bowman said.

Bowman sent SGA President Ryan McKinley a letter on April 13 requesting that the minutes taken at the hearing be made public. The letter also stated that she would file an appeal with the Attorney General’s Office if the minutes were not provided. McKinley deferred the request to Vice President for Student Affairs Denise Gifford.

Gifford, who ran the hearing, responded the following day that she would review the letter before replying. She also said that the minutes were not taken at the hearing, and that no recording was made.

At press time on Sunday, The Cardinal had not received a written response from Gifford. According to a policy set by the attorney general, the agency that receives the letter must either accept or deny the request in writing within three days of receipt.

KRS 61.810 of the Kentucky Open Meetings Law states, “Discussions or hearings which might lead to the appointment, discipline, or dismissal of an individual employee, member, or student” may be held in closed session. All other meetings by agencies that receive government funding, including the SGA, must be held publicly.

McKinley said the SGA shouldn’t be required to provide the minutes because the term “elected official” is never mentioned in the Open Meetings Law. A lawyer for the Kentucky Press Association agreed that The Cardinal may lose the appeal because Hester’s status as a student falls under one of the exceptions.

Bowman, however, argued that since Hester was being tried as an elected official and not as a student, the public has the right to know what happened in the meeting. If the attorney general rules against the SGA, a retrial may be ordered and a fine could be levied.

A representative for the Attorney General’s Office said she does not believe a similar situation has ever been challenged in Kentucky. She added that, while the attorney general has been very strict in his interpretation of when a meeting can be closed, she does not know what he will decide. She said specific laws and interpretations are not made until appeals are filed.

Bowman said The Cardinal has not sought the advice of legal counsel, but did share its concerns with the student newspaper’s board of directors.

Tim Sanford, a professional journalist who serves as president for the board of directors, said the board did not pass a resolution. He said it did, however, give its support to Bowman and encouraged her to look into filing an appeal.

Stanford said because The Cardinal is an individual business unit, not directly affiliated with the university, the appeal is not just about The Cardinal but a question of whether any media members should be allowed to attend such meetings.

“I think the Cardinal staff and the student government should add clarification about what The Cardinal’s role should be at these functions,” he said.