Two Iowans who filed an open-records lawsuit against the ISU Foundation will be honored Friday by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council for their three-year legal battle to gain access to Foundation records.

Mark Gannon, a former employee of the ISU College of Agriculture Foundation, and Arlen Nichols, a Des Moines businessman, filed a lawsuit against the ISU Foundation and the Iowa Board of Regents in August 2002 concerning the estate of Marie Powers.

The estate was donated following Powers’ death in 1996 to the ISU College of Agriculture Foundation to be used as a teaching farm. Instead, it was sold and the profits used for various campus projects.

Following the Powers scandal. Gannon and Nichols requested access to ISU Foundation records pertaining to the Powers’ estate, resulting in an Iowa Supreme Court Ruling in February, which required Foundation records be open to the public and subject to Iowa’s Open Records Law..

The case returned to the Story County District Court, where parties are still negotiating the availability of records, such as amount of donor gifts, since the Supreme Court’s August decision.

Despite some parts of the open-records issue remaining undecided, the plaintiffs are being honored for what the Council sees as fighting for openness in government.

“We never planned anything like this,” Gannon said. “[Nichols and I] weren’t sure that we would win.”

Since the Story County District Court’s ruling in August, the plaintiffs and the Foundation have continued to discuss the status of fundraising data and whether it should be released.

“The one thing we’re addressing right now is that we want the dollar amounts for people who have given gifts, not dollar ranges,” Nichols said.

Nichols said he interpreted the courts’ rulings as allowing open records for these documents, but did not rule out the prospect of more legal action.

The ISU Foundation is negotiating with the plaintiffs on gift ranges. Jason Menke, the Foundation’s associate director of communications, said the Foundation believes an exemption in the Iowa Code’s section on public records applies to their decision to not release the information.

“We believe that our donors reasonably expect that the specific amount of their gifts will not be made public without their consent, but that we will follow industry standard, which is to provide giving information in ranges,” Menke said.

He did not comment on the award.

“The Iowa Freedom of Information Council is an independent body … and the Foundation doesn’t feel one way or another,” Menke said.

Bill Kunerth, professor emeritus of journalism, advised the plaintiffs during their case. He said he was surprised Gannon and Nichols received the award.

The award from the council was ironic, Kunerth said, because during the lawsuit, the plaintiffs did not receive any monetary support from Iowa journalist organizations.

“I’m extremely pleased,” Kunerth said. “There’s nothing I can say that would express properly the admiration I have for them.”

Kunerth said average citizens could learn a lesson from Gannon and Nichols’ efforts.

“I think people need a little courage – there were people who felt the same way [Gannon and Nichols] did, but none of us had the courage to get into a lawsuit,” Kunerth said.