Congratulations are in order to Athletic Director Bill Moos and the University Athletic Department for undergoing an audit at time when department spending has come under scrutiny.
In light of the recent financial investigation into charges that coach Rick Gamez misappropriated $5,748.64 from the women’s softball team travel funds, the decision to ask the Oregon University System to audit the entire department makes the trustworthiness of Moos’ employees questionable.
Moos told the Emerald he is not confident that all fraudulent abuses of athletic travel funds have been detected. If the Athletic Department head is forced to request an audit from an outside source because he cannot trust his own staff, how can students or athletes trust these people to manage money?
Obviously, Moos is practicing good public relations by being honest about his department’s potential shortcomings. In the midst of a phenomenal football season, any other college might be wont to hide discrepancies in their athletic travel budgets. But as the University moves into the top tier of athletic success, we must be careful not to embarrass ourselves when all eyes are on the Ducks.
In college athletics, there has always been “wiggle room” for coaches to fudge their accounting records. But just because the opportunity is there doesn’t mean that coaches should abuse their authority. A new system of checks and balances may need to be incorporated into the department’s current system, depending on the results of the OUS audit.
For the University’s sake, we hope that the audit does not find any more discrepancies within Moos’ department. After all, in the wake of the embarrassment from misappropriated donations found in academic departments during the state’s summer audit, the integrity of the University as a whole is on the line.