Hunter
09/29/26
The Iowa Board of Regents say they won’t pay the full $15,000 cost for a presentation from the conservative-leaning American Council of Trustees and Alumni after they claimed it was, quote, “largely devoid of any meaningful analysis.”
The Gazette reports Regents Executive Director Mark Braun wrote to ACTA Senior Vice President Armand Alacbay on September 18th that the presentation at the Regents meeting on the 16th not only fell short of the expected two-hour time commitment, but Director of External Affairs Nick Down repeated a presentation that Alacbay gave to legislators in February using the same slides and anecdotes.
Braun said that because the negotiated fee of $15,000 does not reflect a fair or appropriate value for the services, the board is of the opinion that $5000 is the appropriate amount to pay for the presentation and will remit payment for that amount.
Board spokesperson Josh Lehman told the Gazette that ACTA and its representatives have not yet responded to the board’s letter.