Leath travel concerns are overblown

The Iowa State University Foundation works tirelessly to improve the Iowa State experience and make college more affordable for every student who enrolls at the university. The foundation has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in scholarships for ISU students in the past four years.

What started as a valid investigation into the use of a university-owned plane has quickly spiraled into a narrative that is not representative of the truth. As a student in one of the best journalism schools in the country, I am disappointed in not only the news coverage, but also in the editorial staff at news organizations.

Fundraising is no easy task. A $1 million gift requires, on average, four to five personal visits and meetings to secure. The larger the donation, the more the foundation has to court the donor. If the foundation invests $20,000 to secure a $5 million gift, that is a stellar return on investment.

ISU President Steven Leath, like any other university president, travels the country representing the university to the donors who have generously given $617 million in the last four and a half years. That money has made possible new scholarships for more than 23,000 students. We students are extremely grateful to the supporters of Iowa State.

To reach the goal of the recently announced $1.1 billion fundraising campaign, Forever True For Iowa State, the university and its foundation must raise $408,000 every day from now until June 30, 2020. The reality of fundraising is that money has to be invested to achieve a return.

The plane situation has stirred a lot of controversy. Could President Leath have done some things differently? Yes. Has he apologized and pledged to be better? Yes. Do these actions warrant a month's worth of coverage and what I can only imagine to be thousands of dollars spent investigating? No.

What has been missing from the news stories is the fact that donors have expressly given money to the foundation for the president to use for whatever he deems necessary. No tuition, student fees or state dollars have been used to pay for the president's travel.

President Leath is a steward of Iowa State's financial resources and I, along with countless others, trust him to do his job with integrity and the best interests of our university in mind.

The Iowa State University Student Government asked the Board of Regents to formally investigate the flights in question so the whole truth would be revealed, and that is what is happening. President Leath has welcomed this investigation. Independent auditors will reveal any wrongdoings. Let's wait for the audit to be completed and then we can draw our conclusions.

Our students are facing the same challenges as students on campuses across the nation. Issues like sexual violence, or the traumatic experiences that students of color face every day. We must address the 25 percent of college students who have a diagnosable mental illness and help the one in 10 students who have seriously considered suicide in the last year. These are topics that should be at the forefront of the conversation.

Our university community stands united. Students, the faculty and staff, and the administration all are focused on making real change in the world and supporters of this great university know the difference we can make with their help.

' Cole Staudt is student body president of Iowa State University. Comments: cmstaudt@iastate.edu