UCF Vice President Helen Donegan, a top UCF administrator among those recently approved by UCF’s Board of Trustees to receive a delayed bonus, helped UCF Student Body President and Board of Trustee Michael Kilbride procure dozens of free Disney tickets for his administration, according to new e-mails obtained by KnightNews.com.
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Donegan wrote an e-mail to Disney lobbyist Shannon McAleavey explaining how UCF’s Student Government Association previously “has worked with the various theme parks to provide 1 day tickets for their Executive Cabinet Retreat.”
In the June 9, 2010 e-mail, Donegan told the Disney lobbyist the SGA members “use the visit as a team building component of the retreat.”
“They would love to come to Disney this year,” Donegan wrote. “They wondered if you would consider donating 40 tickets to a park of their choice on July 17th?”
McAleavey replied by writing: “That seems reasonable. I am copying Jeannie Amendola in my office to arrange and confirm.”
Donegan then replied to McAleavey to thank her and say, “I’ll let them know.”
UCF’s SGA typically has a six figure line item budgeted for an annual spring event typically awarded to a local theme park, where thousands of students get free tickets to the park. KnightNews.com is investigating reports of special treatment SGA members have previously enjoyed during these trips.
According to the Florida Commission on Ethics web site, members of the UCF Board of Trustees have a “Statutory Filing Requirement” to fill out Financial Disclosure forms. The website shows former SGA President Brian Peterson to have met his statutory requirement to fill out the required form, entitled “FORM 1” on June, 9 2010. Kilbride is now a member of UCF’s Board of Trustees.
According to the Florida Commission on Ethics website, “A person required to file financial disclosure FORM 1 … as well as a procurement employee for the State, is prohibited from soliciting any gift from a political committee, committee of continuous existence, lobbyist who has lobbied his or her agency within the past 12 months, or the partner, firm, employer, or principal of such a lobbyist. [Section 112.3148, Fla. Stat.]
“A person required to file FORM 1 or FORM 6, as well as a State procurement employee, is prohibited from directly or indirectly accepting a gift worth over $100 from such a lobbyist, from a partner, firm, employer, or principal of the lobbyist, or from a political committee or committee of continuous existence. [Section 112.3148, Fla. Stat.]”
Kilbride has refused to answer KnightNews.com’s questions related to the donation of gifts, however, UCF issued this statement to KnightNews.com when delivering us the e-mails revealing details of the donation we requested.
“UCF and our students are fortunate to have many outstanding community partners when infrequent requests such as these occur,” UCF spokesman Grant Heston wrote in an e-mailed statement. “In this case, Disney graciously provided one-day park tickets to the SGA leadership team as a valuable component of its team building and strategic planning retreat.”
Heston told KnightNews.com he believed the tickets given to Kilbride and his administration were park hoppers valid for one day.
KnightNews.com is also waiting for an e-mail to Disney lobbyist Shannon McAleavey to be returned asking her to explain whether paperwork related to these tickets needs to be filed with the state.
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