Staff Report
news@kykernel.com
The Kernel is waiting on a response from the Kentucky attorney general’s office regarding an open-records denial from the university.
The open-records request, filed in late August, asked for communication among UK men’s basketball staff or UK Athletics staff who deal with men’s basketball regarding freshman player Nerlens Noel.
UK’s legal office denied the request, citing a section of the Kentucky Open Records Act, saying “all preliminary drafts, notes, correspondence with private individuals, other than correspondence which is intended to
give notice of a final action of a public agency and preliminary recommendations and preliminary memoranda in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended are exempt.”
The denial also noted that “this matter is still under review,” although the request did not refer to any matter in particular.
The Courier-Journal in Louisville also requested the same records the day before the Kernel did, but decided not to appeal the denial.
The attorney general’s office notified UK of the appeal on Sept. 14. On Sept. 20, Lexington law firm Sturgill, Turner, Barker & Moloney PLLC sent the office a response, representing UK.
The response cited both the “preliminary records” exemption used in the original denial and violations of FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as reasons not to disclose the records. UK originally did not cite FERPA in its denial.
The Open Records Act includes a time limit on appeals, giving the attorney general 20 days to issue a decision.
The attorney general’s office extended the deadline for a decision by an additional 30 days, to Nov. 29, because of “the need to obtain additional documentation or a copy of the records involved.” The office sent a request to the law firm and UK asking to provide the records for in camera review. Reviewing them in camera means the office would review the records in private, not disclosing them to the public or the press.
Sturgill, Turner, Barker & Moloney issued a response to the attorney general’s office Oct. 16, denying the request on the basis that releasing the records to the attorney general would violate FERPA.
The firm cited an argument made against releasing such records in Texas, which said the attorney general’s office is not an “authorized representative” of the school districts in question and thus would not be eligible to receive education records for in camera review.
FERPA states that education records are defined as records that include information directly related to a student and are maintained by an educational institution.
If an institution violates FERPA, it faces the threat of losing federal funding.
No violation has resulted in a loss of federal funding in FERPA’s almost 40-year history, said Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va.
“FERPA provides for a corrective mechanism,” LoMonte said. “In the event that the Department of Education decides that you gave out records you weren’t supposed to give out, all that happens is that they put you on a plan of correction … where you agree not to do it again.
“Only if you reject the plan of correction can they punish you.”
LoMonte said it is “kind of hypocritical” for universities to claim FERPA for student athletes “because they’re happy to give out FERPA information when it serves their purposes.”
He said universities have student athletes sign FERPA waivers, allowing the department to release information about injuries and other team-related information.
“It’s at least implied in FERPA that the information has to be actually confidential in the first place,” LoMonte said.
He said the law “never intended to cover every scrap of paper that mentions a student” and everything mentioning a student does not fall under the intended meaning of an education record.
The Kernel’s editor-in-chief, Becca Clemons, said the records in question should be open and public because they involve written communication among employees at a public university.
“If the information in the records requested refers to private information about a student, such as test scores, I could understand the denial,” Clemons said. “However, much information about this student has already been published by both UK and the media, with no thought of FERPA violations.”
Records kept by public universities need to be open to inspection to ensure public institutions are not conducting public business behind closed doors, Clemons said, and “this is especially true for records that might already be public.”
Clemons questioned why, if UK is interpreting FERPA to include any records that have any information about a student, it publishes Nerlens Noel’s name on its roster on ukathletics.com and in press releases.
Reports in August said the NCAA was reviewing Noel’s eligibility to play. UK head coach John Calipari told ESPN on Oct. 17 that Noel was cleared to play, which the NCAA confirmed to USA Today.
My guess is the FERPA waiver is fairly specific, you can disclose the items deemed specific to the basketball industry. Name, number, hometown, etc. But if the student doesn’t want part of it published, they get the make that choice.
Just out of curiosity, what information re: Noel were you hoping to obtain and for what purpose?
Guess someone on the staff wants to be another Jerry Tiption
Don’t be toolbags Kykernel. All press is not good.
Trying to hide the $$$ Worldwide Wes gave his mom!
Someone should answer to this at the Kernel. Profiling on of our own in this light is ridiculous.
I gave him the same amount as Anthony Davis
kentuckykernel = NYTimes, next they will be going into students trash cans.
Destructive journalism. Your no better than the dirt you so Desperately search for
some comments on here are silly…..i recommend that the kentucky kernel rename itself……
Why in the world is the KY Kernel doing this? Seems like an endeavor for Thamel.
Becca Clemons, name rings a bell. Why is that? She was trying some other crapstorm awawhile back as well
All of my friends, and family refuse to read anything else published by the kernel after realizing what they are trying to do. Their intent was to gain readers, and instead they are losing readers.. Nice going kernel.
Pay Pay Cal- You are a jealous jerk!!!!!!!
It’s one thing to stumble upon news like this. It’s entirely different to be appealing denials by the school. This will be the last time I read a Kernel article.
Just a bunch of garbage from what I’ve read. Lets start calling this hater “Butthurt PayPal Cal” since he has an ax to grind with our coach.
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Here we go again… again immature student thinking they’re going to “catch the big one”. How ridiculous. Nowhere in this article did the author even mention the purpose of the request, or what information s/he was specifically seeking. Then, to get an expensive attorney involved just so some lame student can meddle in other people’s affairs… are you f’ing kidding me?!! To be clear, you report news… not make news. It’s that simple. “Journalists”, if you can even call them that, have become notoriously invasive and pesky in recent years. It’s good to see the overwheming response on here of people calling these amateurs out for trying to go down that path as well.
Keep this up Kernel staff, and your readers will begin some investigations of their own. We’ll learn about each of your sexual histories (assuming you have a sexual history), ask for personal records about what STDs you carry (sure, it’s none of our business, but it’s all in the name of reporting, right? Plus, the juicier the news the better, right?), interview people who knew you in high school and report hear-say evidence about your deepest and darkest secrets. I bet you wouldn’t appreciate that much would you? Of course, not. Perhaps that’ll give you some idea of how others feel about your nonsensical meddling into their personal affairs.
Is it common not to publish who wrote the article? All I see is”news staff”. This is very disappointing, UK has enough haters out there without the Kernel jumping in.
Coach Calipari payed him off and that’s why BBN is upset. They know it, the country knows it, Nerlens Noel knows it. UK is a shame to our state and a making a complete fraud of higher education. We won’t see this, however, until Calipari bolts to the NBA and UK shows it’s true colors.
Boy, are louisville fans desperate. Didn’t the NCAA just clear Noel? I think they were so hopeful that he would be declared ineligible. Here’s a little HINT: If you would spend more time supporting your team instead of using your efforts to bring down the competition, you might just get better. You have the #1 ranked team in most polls, but since you don’t know how to handle success, my guess is you will probably be upset by the round of 16. ENJOY what you have!! I’m not sure what exact written correspondence they are referring to , but if it is anything discussing Noel’s academics, then it should ABSOLUTELY be declared off limits under FERPA regulations. Did you ever think that perhaps the correspondence you are referring to contains grades, or test scores? If you want to see Noel’s academics or even correspondence about his academics, you will have to seek his signature on a release and UK’s. Educational records are private just like medical records. Kentucky Kernel, Courier-Journal, move on please. Common sense would tell you that no one would keep “notes”, documents, or email correspondence that would incriminate. Don’t you think that the NCAA’s lengthy investigation was looking for just that same thing?
KIDS KERNEL – WAHHHHHH!!!! WAHHHH!!!! I’m crying because I’m a baby! Get real…I wouldn’t give you the time of day either. And posting this in your own paper makes you look like a loser.
Yeah how dare you ask for records! What are you, some kind of newspaper? Look at me, I’m Newsy McNewserson-Newsalot, looking for News in News records! When will you realize your destructive addiction to the truth and giving people information they need is wrong! I didn’t lose my legs in Korea to have accurate, timely information exposing wrongdoing reported! USA! USA! USA!
Adam just won. Game over.
I would love to know the name of the writer. I would love to use my skills and find all the dirt I can about you. Why be a coward, tell us your name!!!
Nerds and Losers…
I like how everyone at the kernel is too big of a coward to sign their name to this garbage.
I know people at the kernel. I will find out who it is and do a little bit of investigating of my own. Unlike them I have a degree and experience working in the media, not a little student newspaper.
Last time I ever read the kernel. Total bs
I don’t see how you could think that you are somehow promoting same sex marriage or otherwise furthering your cause by creating innuendo swirling around the home team. Perhaps this particular staff writer would be better suited for covering women’s bridge or perhaps and more likely floral decor of some sort. It could also be some sort of a cry for help where the writer is “acting out” against some traumatic event or events from his past likely involving his father.
My advise would be to give up anything to do with masculine sports and move to California and open a flower shop.
Jesus, who whines more than the awful “writers” at the Kernal? Happened last year too. Awful writing, awful “stories,” awful paper.
ha the ky kernel is hilarious. This is why no one reads you! YOU’RE PURELY IRRELEVANT (except for the Soduku).
Quit trying to “break” the next big story and instead go back to profiling campus drinking.
I’m telling you all is Becca Clemons. She wants to make sure that the University is not doing the Public’s business in private. So how is the back and forth unresolved communications about Noel the public’s business? It’s private. The only thing we need to know is if he is eligible or not. If he is not, we may need to know why. That’s it. Becca brings to mind a picture of a bratty spoiled little child who won’t be allowed to sit at the adult table at Thanksgiving.
Here you go. Give them all hell.
Les Johns – https://twitter.com/KernelJohns
Nick Jones – https://twitter.com/Kernel_Nick
Tom Hurley – https://twitter.com/TomHurleyKernel
David Schuh – https://twitter.com/KernelSchuh
Taylor Moak – Editor-in-Chief- https://twitter.com/KernelMoak
Becca Clemons – Editor-in-Chief- https://twitter.com/KernelClemons
Cody Porter – https://twitter.com/KernelPorter
Samantha Rothbauer – Sports Editor – https://twitter.com/KernelRothbauer
God forbid the Kernel pursue the backdoor dealings of the folks who operate on the taxpayers’ dime. I’m sorry if you UK fans are upset that the school paper is poking around your basketball team, but it is an independent entity — not a cheerleader for the school. The Kernel may or may not get a big story from this request, but the staffers will undoubtedly learn something either way. They are, after all, students. Students who take on full class loads and then work odd hours to produce what you’re reading. Students who are willing to put their names and contact information above almost everything they write. Students who subject themselves to your anonymous — and often gutless — comments.
Opine all you want, but don’t attack. These kids accomplish more in a day than most college kids do in a week.
Why investigate a student who will bring our university untold millions of dollars of revenue and show off our great university on a national stage?
Journalists with agendas make people resent all media.