Thank you to Courtney Tanner and The Salt Lake Tribune for exposing the obscene spending by former Utah State University President Betsy Cantwell.
In just 18 months, on top of her $581,585 salary, Betsy Cantwell burned through another $661,800 in university funds on luxury cars, a Salt Lake City apartment (barely 90 minutes from campus), extensive travel, and even a $750 luxury bidet for her office.
She is a self-parody of the modern university administrator, treating public funds as her personal slush fund while families struggle to afford tuition and students drown in debt. At a time when USU faced $12.6 million in budget cuts, Cantwell sat on her literal throne ($750 bidet) and zipped across campus in an unnecessary $28,000 golf cart. “Let them eat ramen!”
Now, Washington State University is funding Betsy Cantwell’s royal sinecure. Shame on USU’s Board of Trustees and every administrator who looked the other way while Betsy Cantwell lit money on fire. Utah State has a special obligation to remain accessible to working- and middle-class families, particularly first-generation college students.
Leadership that treats public service as private luxury is a betrayal of that mission, and of the trust the public places in their institutions.
Thomas R. Grover, Las Vegas, Nevada
