UW System spokesperson Alex Hummel deleted the video of UW chancellors giving presentations detailing the extent to which state budget cuts have affected their campuses, according to a Wisconsin State Journal article.
Though the talks were originally supposed to be presented at the Board of Regents April 7 and 8 meetings, UW System President Ray Cross decided to remove the presentations from the agenda. Hummel, the UW System associate vice president for communications, told the State Journal he recorded the “dry run” versions presented only to Cross so the chancellors could review them later.
Last week, Hummel called erasing the videos “a mistake.” However, Hummel recently changed his response and claimed he made no error in deleting the videos after UW System Deputy General Counsel Jennifer Lattis stated Monday that recordings of meetings only need to be saved until they are “no longer needed for administrative purposes.”
Because the presentations were canceled and chancellors would no longer need to review the footage, Hummel said he never transferred the videos from the camera to a computer before he deleted the recording from the camera to free up space, according to the article.
Hummel’s actions have caused speculation that university administrators are trying to draw attention away from the presentations.
“When you destroy the records, you create the impression that there’s something you’re trying to hide,” said Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council President Bill Lueders in the article.
State representative Terese Berceau accused UW officials of deleting the videos to avoid being faced with criticism from lawmakers.
“It’s part of regular practice now to make sure that the Legislature is not going to hear or see anything that might anger it,” Berceau said.
After such remarks, Hummel denied that he erased the videos out of concern that the footage could cause anger among legislators, according to the article.
