UPDATED: WCC President Reimbursed for $2,873.60 Meal at Vinology With WCC Foundation Funds
UPDATED: The newspaper has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the names of all the participants at the Vinology event for Wendy Lawson. We have also filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the name of the donor who a WCC source has said paid the Foundation for the meal and a copy of the check or credit card payment made to the Foundation for the amount of the meal. Finally, we are investigating whether the receipt provided to us by WCC was a copy of the original or a recreated receipt by the vendor. Other receipts turned over with this one were annotated that they had been recreated as a courtesy by the vendor. While two WCC sources reported the meal as a lunch, the receipt provided has an evening time stamp. The amount charged, venue and date of the meal appear on Dr. Bellanca’s P-card Master Statement. On that P-Card statement, WCC’s officials noted that the $2,873.60 meal at Vinology was going to be reimbursed by the WCC Foundation.
Dr. Rose Bellanca and eight other individuals consumed $864 worth of wine at the meal. The President’s P-Card charge was subsequently reimbursed by the WCC Foundation.
P.D. Lesko
IN JULY 2014, The Ann Arbor Independent used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get a list of charges over a six month period in 2014 made by Dr. Rose Bellanca using her WCC Purchasing Card (P-Card). The list included $2,873.60 for a meal at Vinology, in Ann Arbor. A notation made by college officials stated that Dr. Bellanca had paid for a WCC Foundation event using her college P-Card and that the entire amount would be reimbursed to Washtenaw Community College by the WCC Foundation. A subsequent FOIA requesting copies of both the itemized restaurant bill and the reimbursement check from the Foundation to the college were turned over to the newspaper in September.
The restaurant receipt, reproduced below, shows that the event was a farewell meal for former WCC VP of Advancement Wendy Lawson. The meal was attended by nine people —WCC staff, donors and Dr. Bellanca. According to the itemized bill, the nine people consumed over $800 worth of wine and $1,300 worth of hors d’oeuvres and entrees.
In 2010, former WCC president Dr. Larry Whitworth came under fire when a dinner for 23 people totaled more than $4,000. Dr. Whitworth eventually repaid the college for the dinner with a personal check.
Tax Deductions
Officials alleged the meal was a donor event and that an anonymous donor who attended reimbursed the Foundation for the cost of the meal. Only then did the Foundation reimburse WCC for the charge to Bellanca’s P-Card.
The meal was held on June 20 and less than a week later records show the Foundation cut a check to WCC for the cost of the meal.
If a donor reimbursed the Foundation, a 501(c)3 charity rather than simply pay for the meal, it is possible the donor did so to receive tax benefits for purchasing a farewell meal, which is legal, according to IRS regulations. Federal and state tax laws concerning the deductibility of charitable donations and the deductibility of food and wine for entertainment purposes are very different, however.
The Ann Arbor Independent sent a Freedom of Information Act request to WCC to get the names of the individuals at the meal as well as a copy of the record showing that a donor gave $2,873 to the WCC Foundation sometime between June 20 and June 27. The FOIA also requested copies of any documents given to the donor by Foundation officials indicating that the cost of the farewell meal qualified as a charitable tax deductible donation made to the Foundation.
Buying Alcohol
WCC’s P-Card policy states that employees may not use the cards to pay for alcohol. In a Oct. 5 piece by Matt Durr published in The Ann Arbor News, it was revealed that WCC’s president has on multiple instances since 2011 used her college’s credit card to purchase alcohol, including, according to Durr’s article, for WCC trustees.
Chair of the WCC Board of Trustee’s Dr. Stephen Gill, told The Ann Arbor News that “Overall when we review her (Bellanca’s) expenses, it appears to us to be very reasonable.”
Dr. Gill did not respond to multiple messages asking whether Dr. Bellanca’s use of WCC Foundation funds for an employee meal was appropriate, and whether Dr. Bellanca should be asked to repay the money.
WCC Foundation
The WCC Foundation, a 501(c)3 charity, funds student scholarships. According to the Foundation’s website, over 1,000 students are awarded scholarships under the auspices of the Foundation.
The maximum scholarship awarded is $800 to students who take 12 credit hours, according to the Foundation’s website. The Foundation’s website also states that each year, over $500,000 in scholarship money is awarded to WCC students.
Income tax returns indicate that between 2009 and 2013 the Foundation awarded no more than 836 scholarships to individuals.
Trustee Dr. Stephen Gill reportedly said “one reason for the number of restaurant charges is because the board tasked Bellanca with being more involved in the community when she was hired in 2011.”
Income tax returns filed by the Foundation between 2009 and 2013 reveal that contributions decreased from a high of $1.96 million prior to Dr. Bellanca’s hiring to $976,626. However, over the course of Dr. Bellanca’s tenure Foundation donations have been as high as $1.2 million and as low as $765,000. Donations appear to be on the rise.
Despite the fact that donations to the endowment fund have fallen since 2009, Dr. Gill told The Ann Arbor News that money spent by Dr. Bellanca on trips, hotels, airfare and meals “has paid off incredibly in the past three years. That investment has directly led to an endowment campaign which has exceeded all our expectations.”
Gill and others have hinted that there are major donations to the college’s endowment fund which will soon be announced.
According to the Foundation’s 2013 990 tax form, the nonprofit gave out scholarships worth a total of $578,715 to 836 recipients. There was other educational financial support equal to $127,900 given to 134 individuals and $19,546 given to six faculty members.
Dr. Bellanca did not respond to a message asking about the meal. She also did not reply to a question about whether she would repay the Foundation for the employee farewell party.
Likewise, former WCC VP of Advancement Wendy Lawson declined to comment about her June 2014 farewell meal and whether the Foundation habitually treated its staff to expensive meals.
The paper will follow up on this story as more documents are released by the college.
“Dr. Gill did not respond to multiple messages………..”
I am appalled at this behavior.
There is palpable absence of leadership on the WCC Board of Trustees that allows this garbage to happen.
I would think a recall effort may be in order against these officials.
If the trustees renew Bellanca’s contract, they’ll look like the Keystone Kops at this point. There was a vote of no confidence, the HLC is involved now in the faculty’s complaints against the president. So what’s it gonna take for them to realize she’s not the right fit for the top job? Larry Whitworth was no saint, but you can say one thing and that’s when he was president the focus was on the students and the institution, not him.
The trustees are letting Rose Bellanca drag the college down. This is a place were low-income and returning students come to get an education and they need as much support and help as they can get. Foundation donations are down tremendously and spending money on restaurants, travel and wining and dining hasn’t stopped that slide. WCC is in need of new leadership plain and simple.
Last time I checked, 9pm was not lunch. Also, nine indicates nine orders of an item- not 9 people. Twisting the information again to mislead your readers.
@Wccisgreat We’ll check with the restaurant to make sure the time stamp is correct. This was described by a WCC source as a lunch.
The receipt came from WCC’s attorney in response to a Freedom of Information Act request along with a copy of the check cut to WCC for the amount to cover the amount. It came with copies of other vendor receipts which had to be recreated by the vendors, according to annotations.
WCC’s policy requires receipts to be turned in. Either the recreated receipts were (as originals) not turned in or the originals were misplaced. However, the receipts turned over, including this one, match P-card statement amounts and descriptions also turned over in response to FOIA.
The only annotation on this receipt is that the $2,873.60 in food and drinks was a celebration for Wendy Lawson, former VP of Advancement. This was confirmed by a second source.
I used to donate to the Foundation and I am a past “major donor”. I no longer donate because of this sort of thing. I am not alone.
This is peanuts….keep digging!
This is just the tip of the iceberg and Bellanca has been steaming straight for it since she fired Dr. Blacklaw, named a bunch of interim deans, decided she needed seven VPs, hired Gus Demas and Michelle Mueller. Stephen Gill is crazy if he thinks any WCC employee gets to simply ignore P-Card policy. Gill should resign.
Like it or not donors have to be wined and dined. It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.
@Peter Piper it’s not clear this was a “donor event.” The receipt notation indicates it was a farewell lunch for Wendy (Lawson) the former VP of Advancement for WCC. We’ll know more when we get a list of those who attended. At least three of the nine were WCC employees. The paper will dig to find out how many more of these kinds of meals were held. There have been questions about the ratio of spending (meals, travel, events, etc…) to giving. That’s fair to ask and the public certainly has the right to know.
Really, this kind of thing is run of the mill at colleges these days, but the receipt is some awesome food porn.
Peter Piper this kind of thing – diverting money from a source that is supposed to provide scholarships to students – is not run of the mill this day or any other day.
Good GOD! Pulled pork, tenderloin and short ribs at the same meal? I only hope one of the nine was a cardiologist. 😉
Rose Bellanca has been running WCC like her private fiefdom. She rules by intimidation and by showering perks like this one on the people whom she likes and whom she believes are loyal. Even if a donor stepped in and paid the tab after the foundation reimbursed the charge made by Bellanca with her p-card, that’s almost $3K that could have gone to scholarships instead of peppered tuna and pork sliders for Rose, Wendy and whomever else from WCC got an invite. This is a huge embarrassment, and the sense of entitlement is staggering.
@Jacob, we’re following up on this story. It’s an important one.
This is outrageous. The President needs to go. She is not a Dame or Duchess. Time for her tighten her belt or go.