We have been following the question of who gets to control the assets - whatever they are - of the Pac-12 after ten of its members, including UCLA, depart. Apparently, at least one document supports the position of the remaining two universities that they should have sole control:
Commissioner Kliavkoff admitted USC, UCLA were removed from Pac-12 board
Oct. 12, 2023
Jon Wilner
Bay Area News Group, Seattle Times
In a court filing last month in the fight for control of the Pac-12, commissioner George Kliavkoff indicated he had no position on the composition of the conference’s governing board. Whether board seats should be limited to the two remaining schools, Washington State and Oregon State, or available to the 10 outgoing members, as well, was an issue for the universities to settle, Kliavkoff stated in his court declaration. But that’s not what he said this summer in a different legal entanglement.
Weeks before the Pac-12’s collapse, Kliavkoff issued a sworn statement to the San Francisco Superior Court in which he stated that UCLA and USC had, in fact, already relinquished their board positions after announcing they would be joining the Big Ten. The statement, unearthed Wednesday evening by the Hotline, is one of dozens of filings in a lawsuit brought by two former Pac-12 executives who were terminated for their roles in the Comcast overpayment scandal.
In the first section of his declaration to the court, which was filed July 12, Kliavkoff states his job title and responsibilities: “I am the Commissioner for Defendant Pac-12 Conference and have held this position since July 1, 2021. I report to the Pac-12 Conference Board of Directors, comprised of the Chancellor or President of each member institution.“ The second sentence is accompanied by the following annotation: “The University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Southern California, are no longer among the member institutions represented on the Board of Directors.”
The declaration is nine pages long and concludes, “I declare under penalty of perjury pursuant to the laws of the United States of America and the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.” It is signed by Kliavkoff.
A source called the development potentially “significant” in the lawsuit brought by Washington State and Oregon State against the conference over control of the governing board. It shows Kliavkoff, under penalty of perjury, acknowledging that announced departures to other conferences trigger removal from the Pac-12’s board — exactly the point Washington State and Oregon State are arguing in their lawsuit. The two schools left behind in the realignment game contend the 10 outbound members gave what conference bylaws call “notice of withdrawal” upon announcing their moves to new leagues. As a result, the Cougars and Beavers believe they should be the only remaining members of the board. The lawsuit, filed Sept. 11 against the Pac-12, attempts to gain judicial clarity on the matter.
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