Panel to quiz CU officials on reforms since '05 audit

Rocky Mountain News

Monday, August 20, 2007

University of Colorado officials step back before the state's Legislative Audit Committee today to answer questions about reforms put in place since a 2005 examination found numerous problems in spending within the athletic department.

Among a number of shortcomings, the audit found that records for former football coach Gary Barnett's summer camps were in such disarray that nobody could account for hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and expenses.

Auditors also found no records explaining what approximately $6,000 in checks written from the football camps were used for. They also found expenditures that violated state spending rules, including money spent to fly five baby sitters to bowl games to care for the children of CU employees.

At the time of the audit, CU President Hank Brown said there was no smoking gun, "but we have a lot of smoke." Brown vowed to adopt all 15 recommendations contained in the audit.

Today, Brown and G.P. "Bud" Peterson, chancellor of the Boulder campus, are scheduled to appear before the audit committee as part of the follow-up on the 2005 examination. The committee is expected to hear an assessment of the reforms instituted since then.

The audit was undertaken in the wake of numerous questions raised about CU's spending and recruiting practices that grew out of a Dec. 7, 2001, party held at an off-campus apartment.

Three women have alleged they were sexually assaulted either at the party or afterward by football players and recruits. The women sued in federal court, sparking a series of investigations. One lawsuit was dropped and the other, which involved the allegations of two of the women, was dismissed. Those women have appealed.