Hello and welcome to your Wednesday FOIAbites.
“But,” you exclaim, ‘It’s Tuesday!”
Aye, it is Tuesday. We like to mix things up sometimes. Like today, where we’ve got a slightly different newsletter than normal.
Before we start, I sat down with Katherine Knott of Inside Higher Ed to talk about, well, me. And FOIA. And college football. Katherine and her coworkers were some of my very first followers, so I’d love if you would give it a read.
Major programs spend millions on private jets
About our story today. Typically, this offering is only for our paid subscribers. But every once in a while—less and less these days for sure—noblesse oblige. This post is free for all of you to read, thanks to the good folks at Front Office Sports.
It covers what some 40 schools are spending on private jets for their football coaches. At a time when TSA lines are criminally long, airlines are squeezing every dollar out of you, and planes are crashing everywhere, it’s important to see how the other half lives.
The only catch is you have to go to Front Office Sports to read it. Here’s the link.
But I don’t want to leave paid subscribers empty-handed. So I’ve got a little gem just for them. When I reached out to schools about these figures, most confirmed my numbers. Why wouldn’t they? They gave them to me.
One school wouldn’t do that. One school sent the following statement. If you are well-versed in PR speak, it’s about the closest thing to a spittle-flecked string of expletives you can get in your inbox.
“The figure provided in the FOIA inquiry remains our official response, and we won’t be confirming the number referenced in your message below. Additionally, we have no further comment at this time and do not find it necessary to discuss our spending with you.”
Would you like to know who vehemently refused the mildest of inquiries? That answer is just beyond the paywall.
If you are on the fence about upgrading to find out, I can promise you one thing: the school probably won’t appreciate being used this way. But once you find out, you will.
dont u wanna know who?
The answer is just behind this paywall. It will only cost $1 for your first month.
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