Students Group Drops Support For Lawsuit Students Trying To Gain Access To Teacher Evaluations

University of Idaho student Travis Quast has been left holding a $3,500 legal bill now that student government wants no part in a lawsuit against the university seeking access to teacher evaluations.

The Associated Students University of Idaho Senate voted 9-1 on Wednesday to reject Quast’s request to transfer $3,500 from its print advertising budget into a professional services account to pay legal fees.

The 2nd District Court lawsuit was filed Sept. 18 by Quast, the student body advertising manager, against interim Provost George Simmons, the University of Idaho and the state Board of Education. It contends teacher evaluations are open records under state law.

Student Sen. Jeff Daniels, representing the Student Media Board, cast the only dissenting vote Wednesday.

“I felt that pursuing this question of whether evaluations are public or not needs to be answered,” Daniels said. “I think there is a very good chance the lawsuit will be won.”

Before the meeting, Daniels said the issue was access.

“This is a taxpayer-funded, land-grant university and I think students as well as taxpayers have a right to see information on how students rate their professors,” he said.

But student Sen. Chris Houck said not every student supports the fight.

“Other avenues could have been taken to come up with a satisfactory answer without filing a $3,500 lawsuit against ourselves,” Houck said.

Student Senate Pro Tem Brandon Jessup said he was leaning toward supporting the lawsuit until he found out three of the five living groups he represents don’t care.

“ASUI is obligated to represent the needs of the students, not stand up for the rights of the press,” Jessup said.

Student Body President Brian Kane withdrew his support for the lawsuit even before Wednesday’s meeting, saying Quest did not follow student government rules and regulations in pursuing the teacher evaluations.

“ASUI advertising and the Student Media Board have exceeded their authority and acted without the approval of the ASUI,” Kane wrote in a Sept. 19 memo to Quast.

Quast’s attorney, Charles Brown of Lewiston, said on Monday that the First Amendment was an overriding consideration.

“This is true in a situation involving the freedom of the press, regardless of the fact that it involves a student-run newspaper,” Brown wrote in response to Kane.