In the ongoing debate over the ISU Foundation’s closed records, it would seem those pushing for open records have a victory.

The Foundation opened the records about the Marie Powers $1.2 million farm and estate after debate regarding whether the Foundation acted according to Powers’ wishes when it sold her farm.

The sale of the farm was an obvious conflict with the wishes of the Powers family, who wanted the farm to be maintained by the university.

The Foundation issued an apology to those who “perceived as inappropriate behavior from the former chief executive officer” and opened the records Thursday.

But opening the records after the fact, and only after the misuse of the donation of the farm was brought to the public’s attention, is not a hefty enough move.

The Foundation needs to open all of its records, not just the ones regarding the Powers family farm. This tactic will allow potential donors to know exactly where their money is going, rather than handing over bags of money with only a wishful hope that it will benefit the university in the way they want.

The public apology issued by the Foundation is a diversion of a much larger issue.

It also allows the Foundation to direct blame to Murray Blackwelder, the former chief executive officer mentioned above who regulated much of the correspondence between Powers’ lawyer and the Foundation, and draws attention away from the new off-campus office the group recently purchased.

Blackwelder is no longer an employee of Iowa State, and none of the officials involved with the acquisition of the Powers family farm are still associated with the Foundation, which gives it the ability to claim ignorance in regard to the ordeal.

This case is a prime example of why the Foundation should open its records.

The argument they’ve used – keeping records closed aids donors – does not hold up when such an obvious misuse of a gift surfaces.

If the Foundation can sell a piece of land which was intended to be maintained by the university, what stops it from misdirecting money intended for the English department to something that fits its needs?

Opening the records will clear the confusion surrounding an organization which is intended to serve a public university, not to act as a separate entity which showers Iowa State with money as it deems appropriate.

The Foundation’s move away from the university will only make it more difficult for them to satisfy the needs of our public university.

Rather than waiting for someone to catch another glitch in the system, the Foundation should make its records public.

editorialboard: Michelle Kann, Tim Paluch, Zach Calef, Ruth Hitchcock, Cavan Reagan