FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas fired its chief spokesman amid a dispute over how much information the school should disclose about recent budget shortfalls in its advancement division.
John Diamond told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story published Saturday that he was fired via text message late Friday morning.
“I believe it’s the result of strong philosophical and material differences over what it means to be a transparent and publicly accountable university,” Diamond said in an email sent Friday to the newspaper. “I learned of this decision in a text message from Chris Wyrick at 11:28 this morning.”
Vice Chancellor Chris Wyrick acknowledged that Diamond was fired, effective at the end of September, but said Diamond asked that a letter documenting the dismissal not be released pending a ruling from the state attorney general on whether it must be disclosed.
For the past several months, the university has resisted releasing information detailing overspending in its advancement division, which includes the school’s fundraising, alumni and public relations arms. It also hasn’t released the division’s budget for the current fiscal year or said how it balanced last year’s budget.
Wyrick became vice chancellor for university advancement on July 1 and immediately restructured his division. He replaced Brad Choate, who lost his job after the school found a multimillion-dollar deficit going back several years.
At the time of the restructuring, Diamond was one of three finalists for vice president for strategic communications at the University of Iowa. He was not hired.
