This is an open letter to Regent Bruce Rastetter, President Steven Leath and Dean Wendy Wintersteen:

More than 100 concerned citizens gathered at the Ames City Hall Council Chambers on March 24 to attend an Occupy Ames/ISU-sponsored teach-in entitled “After AgriSol: Defining a University’s Ethics and Interests in a Corporate World.” Panelists included Paul Johnson, David Osterberg, Carolyn Raffensperger, Francis Thicke, Matt Ohloff, Adam Mason and George Naylor. Audio and video files, as well as the written transcript, were posted to the event website: afteragrisoloccupyteachin.blogspot.com.

We attended this teach-in because Iowa State’s connection to the AgriSol development project in Tanzania continues to concern us. Our university’s reputation is important to us as current students and recent alumni of Iowa State. In addition, we value Iowa State’s fulfillment of its land grant mission in a manner which improves the quality of life and creates public goods here and abroad. Understanding of the nature of the AgriSol/ISU partnership should inform future guiding principles in Iowa State’s involvement in international agriculture development projects and for-profit partnerships.

To date, the administration has released statements that do not outline in full detail or provide a timeline of the nature of Iowa State’s relationship with AgriSol Energy. A statement released Feb. 10 from Wintersteen shares that there have been “misrepresentations about why and how we [the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences] were involved.” We write today to seek more information about why and how the college was involved. Specifically, we are interested to learn what originally inspired the exploration of program development in Tanzania with AgriSol Energy and the specifics of this proposed program development. We acknowledge that Iowa State has had and continues to have success on the international development level, namely the project involving small farmers and landholders in Uganda to which the college and AgriSol have drawn numerous comparisons. Thus, we are eager to learn to what degree the Tanzania project parallels the Uganda project.

We are genuinely interested in how the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has been misrepresented regarding this project, and we offer the following questions as an opportunity for dialogue and clarification:

1. What was the timeline of the planned partnership between Iowa State and AgriSol?

2. What was the scope and capacity of Iowa State’s advisory role?

3. What role did any local organizations or institutions in Tanzania have in the development of this project?

4. Who was intended to be the beneficiary of this project? What are the measures of success for those beneficiaries?

5. How was Iowa State’s planned development project in Tanzania to be funded?

6. To what degree would this project be similar to other international development projects, such as the ongoing project in Uganda?

7. What are Iowa State’s guiding principles or rules of engagement when entering into partnerships with for-profit stakeholders in international development work?

We request that the university hold a public forum or meeting with concerned citizens to discuss the AgriSol/ISU partnership in an open manner and to engage in dialogue about what will be the guiding principals for future agricultural development and public-private partnerships. To quote former ISU President W. Robert Parks, “In speaking of an ‘open’ university, I meant only one thing: I was simply saying that the university has no greater purpose than to keep its doors open and to be the place in society where people can express opposing points of view” (interview with the Iowa State Daily, May 1970).

As was made clear and discussed at the teach-in, members of the ISU community and the citizens of Iowa at large view the AgriSol case as an opportunity to address our concerns and questions regarding international agricultural development research, partnerships with for-profit partners and the transparency of process at our institution. We are proud of the reputation and work of Iowa State and know Iowa Stare is well-prepared to play a positive role in advancing the public good by engaging in these questions brought forward by the public it serves.

Thank you for your attention and reply. We appreciate your response within one week of receipt of this letter.