OU provided The Post with 10 out of the 20 total sets of records requested by the Inspector General in November.
The Ohio Office of the Inspector General requested records from Ohio University for the third time on Nov. 13, citing a section of the Ohio Revised Code about cooperating in investigations.
After the office required the university send the Inspector General two sets of records by Dec. 1 and Dec. 15 respectively, on Thursday The Post acquired some of the records as part of a public records request.
The records provided to The Post are ones OU’s Office of Legal Affairs have deemed public, and “additional records will be provided as we review them for information excluded from disclosure under the public records law,” Pam Dailey, OU’s records management senior specialist, said in an email.
The records pertain to OU’s President Roderick McDavis housing situation, its lease-purchase agreement for 31 Coventry Lane, and its relationship with the property’s owner, Athens Realtor and OU donor John Wharton.
Of the 20 sets of records the Inspector General requested in November, the university provided The Post with 10.
According to The Athens News, OU’s general counsel, John Biancamano, cited a portion of the Ohio Revised Code as reason for his office’s denial to provide records. The News also claims under that same code, OU would not be immune from withholding those records.
The records the university provided The Post include OU’s real-estate purchases related to Wharton, payments in connection with the president’s home at 31 Coventry Lane and communications between administrators, among others.
The university has not yet made public the rest of the records, which, among others, include:
Copies of agendas and minutes of the Ohio University Foundation trustees and executive committee.
Email account activity of several OU administrators from July 1, 2014 until present.
A list of donations and pledges the Whartons have made since Feb. 1, 2015.
Expense reports and other notes regarding a Feb. 6 meeting with Wharton, McDavis and others.
The Nov. 13 request can be found here and the records can be found here.
Information in the new set of records
According to the documents, OU was billed for numerous expenses associated with 31 Coventry Lane. Some of the larger expenses are related to the home’s maintenance, including a nearly $8,000 maintenance bill on June 2 and another for $3,300 on Oct. 1.
On•May 7, the university paid more than $10,000 to reimburse Wharton for 2014 property taxes, the documents show.
Notes in the documents also indicated McDavis and Wharton met to have lunch Feb. 6 and Feb. 25. The first meeting was referenced in the Inspector General’s most recent request.
Emails from and sent to Ryan White, senior associate athletics director for development, indicate Wharton was on a list of “Academic Center prospects” for $25,000. It's unclear if the emails are referring to the proposed Sook Academic Center.
What prompted the Inspector General’s attention
It’s been about 10 months since OU entered into an agreement to lease the new presidential residence at 31 Coventry Lane, previously owned by Wharton.
Both McDavis and First Lady Deborah McDavis moved out of their on-campus home, 29 Park Place, in March after a bat infestation caused Deborah to break her foot.
Citing the need to have an accessible home, the McDavises temporarily stayed in a room at the Ohio University Inn and Conference Center until the university acquired the Coventry Lane residence.
Students and faculty rattled by the $1.2 million lease-purchase agreement held a protest, dubbed the “Bat Rally,” and organized a petition with more than 100 faculty signatures against the decision.
Soon after, OU’s Vice President for Finance and Administration Stephen Golding announced the university would not purchase the home following the discovery of a verbal agreement made between Wharton and Director of Athletics Jim Schaus.
The agreement entailed a promise of $100,000 from Wharton toward the Walter Fieldhouse contingent upon the university’s purchase of his Coventry Lane home.
University officials ultimately decided against the lease agreement and denied any knowledge of the verbal deal between Wharton and Schaus.
The McDavises continue to live at 31 Coventry Lane.
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OU has since paid $4,318 per month in rental costs — totaling about $40,000 in addition to the maintenance costs contained in the newly released records.
McDavis is entitled to a home as part of his compensation package, according to his contract with the university. For the 2015-16 academic year he also receives a salary of $480,000 while the First Lady receives a salary of $36,150. McDavis was also granted a $90,000 bonus at a Board of Trustees meeting in August.
Ohio Inspector General Randall Meyer requested the new records in a Nov. 13 letter addressed to Biancamano. The office cannot confirm whether it is conducting an investigation, however, until an investigation is complete, according to a previous Post report.
Last year, the office also requested similar sets of records on April 27 and Aug. 3.
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