DENVER – The state ethics commission on Tuesday cleared Fort Lewis College President Dene Kay Thomas of all charges related to her February trip to the United Arab Emirates to meet a wealthy alumnus.
Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission voted 5-0 to dismiss the complaint without a formal hearing.
In April, a company named Lark’s Wing LLC filed the ethics complaint, alleging that Thomas benefited from the trip through a swanky dinner hosted by Sheikh Adel Aujan as well as from per diem payments from the college while she was sightseeing in the United Arab Emirates. A student who unsuccessfully sued the school two years ago created Lark’s Wing in March and signed the complaint on the company’s behalf.
Matthew Campbell, lawyer for Lark’s Wing, wanted to either conduct a deposition of Thomas or force her to testify at a hearing.
“I really think the commission should have allowed some type of opportunity for cross-examination,” Campbell told commissioners.
The decision after a 2½-hour hearing puts to rest what has been a major headache for the college.
The complaint has hurt FLC’s fundraising efforts since it was filed in April and leaked to The Durango Herald, said Deputy Attorney General Bernie Beuscher.
“There has been absolutely no confidentiality regarding this matter, and that has done significant damage to the reputation of the president and the fundraising efforts of the college,” Beuscher said.
Thomas, who did not attend the hearing, issued a brief statement by email to thank supporters in the community “for the many expressions of support that I have received.”
“It is both gratifying and comforting to have your confidence that I am acting to advance the opportunities for all of us at Fort Lewis College, wherever they may take us,” Thomas wrote.
John Wells, chairman of the FLC Board of Trustees, said he respects the state’s ethics process, but he is happy that the distraction is over. Trustees approved Thomas’ trip in advance and maintained she did nothing wrong.
“That’s what we all knew, but sometimes you have to go through these processes,” Wells said.
The complaint alleged that Thomas violated Amendment 29 – the state constitution’s ethics amendment – as well as the college’s own fiscal rules, when she took an eight-day trip to Dubai and attended a dinner sponsored by the alumnus, the sheikh, at the Burj al Arab, one of the world’s best hotels.
Campbell argued his case by phone, saying the dinner was held in Thomas’ honor and therefore violated the constitution’s gift ban.
“She could have said ‘I’m very honored by your invitation to hold a dinner and reception in my honor, but because of Amendment 29, I’m prohibited from accepting that,’” Campbell said.
But lawyers for FLC argued successfully that the dinner was a benefit for the college, not Thomas, saying it was the only chance Thomas had to meet the sheikh.
“That’s how he conducts business. There would not have been another opportunity to meet with him,” said Michelle Merz-Hutchinson, a first assistant attorney general who argued Thomas’ case at the hearing.
The Independent Ethics Commission decided that Thomas’ trip fell within the legal exception that allows public employees to accept meals during the course of their duties. Commissioners also said they don’t have jurisdiction to police the college’s internal financial practices, and that complaint should have been directed to the FLC Board of Trustees.
A former FLC student, Rose M. Daniel, filed the papers to create Lark’s Wing, the company that filed the complaint.
Daniel withdrew from the school in January 2011, after campus police investigated her for allegedly bringing apricot and pumpkin empanadas laced with marijuana to campus and giving them to unsuspecting people. District Attorney Todd Risberg declined to press charges, saying he couldn’t prove that Daniel intended to give drug-tainted food to anyone.
Campbell said last week that Daniel has withdrawn as a member of Lark’s Wing, but the company has other managers and members. He declined to name them.
jhanel@durangoherald.com
