Rumors that Nike CEO Phil Knight is withdrawing his large pledge of financial support for the renovation of Autzen Stadium were still rumors on Thursday.
According to a statement from Nike regarding the University, “The details of Phil’s private philanthropy have and will continue to be personal. However, from a business perspective, both Nike and Phil were surprised when the University of Oregon aligned itself with the Workers (sic) Rights Consortium.”
There has been no substantiation to the rumor, which seems to have originated from a Portland television newscast Wednesday night.
The University administration had not had any contact with Nike or Knight late on Thursday, said Duncan McDonald, vice president for public affairs and development.
Johnson Hall has been receiving phone calls from people asking if this rumor is an attempt to cast Knight in a negative light. McDonald said such allegations hold no weight at this time, but speculation abounds regarding the rumor’s source.
“It’s getting into an Area 51 scenario,” McDonald said, in a joking reference to the government’s alleged top secret Air Force base in New Mexico. “This is a mystery.”
Athletic Director Bill Moos said that he has had a “very good relationship and a friendship with Phil Knight. There has never been any strings tied to his gifts.”
“I have heard strictly rumors reported by the media,” University President Dave Frohnmayer said.
Knight and Frohnmayer spoke briefly over the telephone April 14 to discuss the University’s membership in the WRC, Frohnmayer said. They mutually agreed to speak in greater detail about the matter in the near future, he said.
“We’ve made our commitment to the WRC,” Frohnmayer said. “We’ve also made our concerns about the WRC known.”
In a letter notifying the WRC of the University’s decision to join the labor standards monitoring agency, Frohnmayer expressed these concerns.
Issues of governance, membership balance, transparency and disclosure of all contributors and their affiliations need to be addressed, Frohnmayer has said.
“We expect there to be internal progress,” he said.
Nike’s statement expressed the company’s dislike of the WRC, but noted that the University’s partnership agreement, which runs through 2003, remains intact and unaffected.
“The U of O, despite its unique relationship with Nike and Phil, is free to align itself with the WRC,” reads the statement. “However, it does not mean that we are required to support those efforts with which we have fundamental disagreements.”