QUESTIONS RAISED FOR A SECOND TIME ABOUT SOFT-DRINK BOTTLER'S EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH A COLLEGE
By KIT LIVELY A second public college in Illinois has given an exclusive contract to a large soft-drink bottling company in exchange for a $500,000 charitable donation, a Chicago newspaper has reported. John A. Logan College, a two-year institution, signed a 20-year contract last year with Harry L. Crisp II, president of Marion Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.
Two years ago, Mr. Crisp pledged to give Southern Illinois University $500,000 in exchange for the exclusive right to sell drinks at certain university sporting events. No other bids were accepted on the contract, which was signed in September 1997 and is to run through 2007, university officials said. The money paid for a new floor for the basketball arena on the university's Carbondale campus. (See a story from The Chronicle, June 24.)
The Tribune reported that Ray Hancock, president of Logan College, signed the agreement with Mr. Crisp in April 1998. Mr. Crisp was chairman of the Illinois Community College Board at that time. Neither Mr. Hancock nor Mr. Crisp nor their spokesmen were available for comment Friday.
According to the Tribune, the agreement with Logan College gives Mr. Crisp's company exclusive rights "to have his beverages sold and advertised at all of the school's athletic and special events, as well as in its food-service outlets, for 20 years."
In addition, the newspaper reported, the only vending machines allowed on the campus are those advertising Marion Pepsi-Cola Bottling's beverages, and "at least 90 per cent of the soft-drink selections" must come from the company. In exchange, the newspaper reported, Mr. Crisp's company agreed to donate 10 annual installments of $50,000 each to the college's "Creating Opportunities" fund for constructing and repairing buildings.
State Rep. Jeffrey M. Schoenberg this month sought to have the Illinois Auditor General look into the contract between Southern Illinois University and Mr. Crisp's company, to insure that it complies with university regulations and state laws. Representative Schoenberg was not available Friday to say whether he would extend his request to the Logan College contract as well. The Tribune said Representative Schoenberg considered the Logan College contract "troubling."
At least one other public university in the state, Eastern Illinois University, has an exclusive contract with Mr. Crisp's company, but it was approved by the institution's Board of Trustees based on competitive bids, said Monty R. Bennett, the university's director of purchasing. He said the agreement, which was announced in May, involved no charitable donations.