Lawyer Offers $200K to Law School if Alma Mater Fires Football Heads
A well-known and well-to-do attorney in Washington state has created a stir by offering in an e-mail to donate $200,000 to his alma mater, the University of Washington School of Law, if the university were to fire its football coach and athletic director.
In fact, although the U of W reportedly paid no attention to the e-mail, Todd Turner did resign as athletic director within the specified 90-day period, and attorney Ed Hansen says he plans to pay up the $100,000 he promised, reports the Seattle Times. The 68-year-old earned both his bachelor’s and law degree from the U of W, and is particularly known both as having been the mayor of the city of Everett, Wash., for more than eight years and for his role in founding Frontier Bank, in which he currently holds stock worth about $7 million.
Hansen’s disdain for the heads of last year’s Huskies football program is far from unique, according to the newspaper, which obtained his e-mail and others via a public records request. Some 100 e-mails to the U of W also conditioned financial support on the firing of Turner and Ty Willingham, who continues as the Huskies football coach. However, Hansen offered the most for the departure of the two men: at least $100,000 each.
University president Mark Emmert says he paid no attention to Hansen’s e-mail, just as he does with all e-mail that includes financial threats or concerns personnel matters, and doesn’t even remember seeing it. Although Emmert criticized such offers as inappropriate, Hansen sees nothing wrong with trying to help the law school financially while encouraging personnel changes that could lead to a winning football season.
“If someone is willing to make a gift of money for a charitable purpose, they are entitled to put conditions on it,” he says. “The UW is free to do what it will do, and Ed Hansen is free to make contributions to the UW if he likes the direction things are going.”
