UMass inaugural spending questioned

At a dinner last month feting the new chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, 324 guests dined on seared sea scallops, roasted filet of beef, and chocolate torte with creme fraiche ice cream as they took in the Boston skyline from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.

The celebratory meal and other activities during the weeklong inauguration of Chancellor Michael F. Collins cost $512,525, the bulk of it from private donors. UMass-Boston officials said the school, which used $113,001 in university funds for the festivities, held the events to impress current and potential donors, who have become more important as state funding for higher education has waned.

The university spent more than three times the amount it did for the inauguration of Collins's predecessor, which was paid for entirely with university funds, and nearly twice what was spent for the inauguration for the chancellor of the flagship school in Amherst. The Amherst event was paid for with private donations.

Collins declined requests for comment.

``We planned a week that was inclusive and celebrated the university and we think it was a great success," said Andrew O'Brien, deputy chancellor of UMass-Boston.

Some state lawmakers said the half-million dollar cost of the inauguration was too high, regardless of the source of the money, and they said the university could have spent as much energy raising private money for student services.

``It's ridiculous," said Representative Kevin Murphy of Lowell, the House chairman of the Joint Committee on Higher Education. ``You'd think we were crowning a king. I can't agree with the expense."

The expenditures on the festivities were disclosed to the Globe following a public records request.

Senator Robert O'Leary, the Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Higher Education, said the news of the expense comes as the Legislature is finalizing its budget for next fiscal year.

``We are trying to put more money into higher education," O'Leary said. ``The timing of this raises some issues."

Collins -- a medical doctor who previously headed Caritas Christi Health Care System, the Boston-based Catholic hospital network -- was hired by UMass in 2005, in part, because it was hoped that his private-sector background would prove helpful in forging fund-raising networks.

Stephen Tocco, chairman of the state Board of Higher Education, said the celebration illustrated Collins's prowess at fund-raising.

``This was part of [Collins's] strategy, and it appears to me it worked well, based on the amount of private money that he was able to raise for the event, and those people will continue to be donors," Tocco said.

``I think the sleeping giant has awoken," he added.

Donors for Collins's inauguration included: New Balance, Bank of America, Tufts Health Plan, Liberty Mutual, and Suffolk Construction. The Boston Globe was also a contributor. Elected officials and UMass employees, among others, donated, as well.

Collins's inauguration week, dubbed ``Inspiration, Achievement, Celebration," spanned April 24 to 28 and included:

Inauguration ceremony : $65,000 (university funds).

Celebration dinner: $74,524 (donated).

A scholarship dinner: $125,000 (donated). $106,896 raised during the event for the scholarship fund.

A campus picnic for employees: $20,480 (university funds).

Academic symposiums: $27,521 (university funds).

A Kanye West concert: $200,000 (private funds, student ticket sale revenues).

The West concert, the largest expense, did not pay for itself. School officials had hoped to sell 8,000 tickets for the hip-hop artist's show, but just 3,000 sold, requiring the school to raise money for the remainder.

O'Brien said UMass did not regret the choice. ``For too long, people have looked at this place as just `good enough,' " he said. ``I would say: `Why can't we get a Grammy-winning artist to come to campus for a concert? . . . This is a faculty and student body that deserves great things."

Other UMass inaugurals have been more contained affairs.

At UMass-Dartmouth, in 2001, Jean MacCormack's inauguration cost $32,000, all raised from private donors, and consisted of a luncheon before the inauguration and a reception afterward. MacCormack, who had been interim chancellor for a year prior to her inauguration, hosted and paid for a dinner at her home, said a school spokesman.

At UMass-Amherst, John Lombardi's two-day inauguration in 2003 cost $268,972, all private money. It included a dinner, a reception, and academic symposiums, a spokesman said.

At UMass-Boston in 2002, the inauguration for Jo Ann Gora consisted of a student barbecue, academic forums, student and community concerts, and the ceremony, costing $157,000. While the 2002 inauguration was cheaper than this year's, university funds were used to cover its cost. This year's inauguration, by contrast, relied primarily on private dollars.

But O'Leary and Murphy said they worried that devoting significant contributor sums to the inaugural might tap out donors who otherwise could help pay for pressing needs, such as the estimated $100 million repair of the main garage on campus.

``It comes at the expense of fund-raising that could have gone for a different purpose," O'Leary said.