University of Southern Indiana contract with Ohio Valley Conference still mostly a secret

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — It's been more than three months since the University of Southern Indiana made the decision to move to Division I athletics in the Ohio Valley Conference.

But the full terms under which USI agreed to be a member of the OVC remain a secret, and Indiana's Public Access Counselor said school officials should revisit their decision to redact many of the details of its contract with the league.

On Feb. 10, the Evansville Courier & Press filed a public records request with USI asking for contracts signed between the school and the OVC. The Courier & Press received a copy of USI's membership contract with the OVC on Feb. 21.

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There are 16 bulleted items in the copy of the contract. Six of those items – likely including information on financial costs and the length of the contract – were redacted. The contract was signed by David Glassman, president of Eastern Illinois University and president of the OVC Board of Presidents, as well as USI President Ronald Rochon, on Feb. 8.

Upon receiving the contract, the Courier & Press filed a complaint with the Indiana Public Access Counselor's office on Feb. 25 arguing that USI improperly redacted portions of the contract as "trade secrets."

In USI's response to the complaint, its legal counsel argued that the contract contained provisions that meet the "trade secret" exemptions to Indiana's Access to Public Records Act. The response also states that the OVC identified eight provisions as potential trade secrets and expressed concern that if other athletic conferences had access to this information, it could jeopardize new membership and increase the likelihood of losing current members.

"USI redacted these excepted trade secrets in light of months of intentional transparency," said Aaron Trump, USI's chief government and legal affairs officer in the response. "For these reasons, and others described, USI does not violate the Indiana Access to Public Records Act." 

Upon reviewing the complaint, Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt wrote that the University of Southern Indiana should reevaluate its decision and revisit the redacted portions of the contract. 

Britt argued that while the public access counselor's office understands that corporations want to maintain a competitive advantage within their respective marketplace, in his opinion the issue lies with the amount of information that was redacted and what content was removed.

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"The public, who at least partially contributes to the funding streams of public universities, has the right to scrutinize those agreements to determine if a public agency has received the benefit of the bargain," Britt wrote. "Toward that end, any substantive terms and conditions should be disclosed." 

In an email response to a Courier & Press inquiry, Trump said he had reviewed the public access counselor's opinion and still thinks "the redacted portions were in line with Indiana Code."

USI is set to become a member of the OVC on July 1, according to the contract. 

Contact Courier & Press sports reporter Hendrix Magley via email at hendrix.magley@courierpress.com or via Twitter @TweetsOfHendrix.