The University of California rejected a public records request to release its agreement with billionaire Charlie Munger over the megadorm to be built on the Santa Barbara campus because the agreement is “preliminary and conceptual in nature,” the Office of the President determined. The ruling raises yet more questions about a project that has thus far been shrouded in mystery and lambasted by critics for its lack of transparency.
The planned dorm on the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus was dreamed up and designed by the 97-year-old Berkshire Hathaway vice president and billionaire Munger, who has no formal architecture training. It is set to house a whopping 4,500 undergraduate students, almost entirely in bedrooms without windows. Instead, the bedrooms will have virtual windows with digital screens that simulate daylight, an untested design for any long-term living arrangement more reminiscent of dystopian sci-fi horror than any proven housing concept. In recent months, the design has been the subject of withering criticism from architecture experts, psychologists who study the importance of natural light to human health, and local housing activists who do not consider Munger Hall an acceptable solution to the campus’s extreme housing crisis.
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While reporting a story on Munger Hall and the UCSB housing crisis, Motherboard filed a public records request with the university for any and all contracts or agreements relating to the Munger Hall project. UCSB said it had no responsive records and referred Motherboard to the University of California Office of the President (UCOP).
In response to the same request filed with that office, a representative from the UCOP Office of General Counsel acknowledged it had one responsive record relating to Munger Hall, but the rep added, “However, the agreement between the University and Charles Munger is preliminary and conceptual in nature and is not a firm or final commitment or a binding obligation for the donor to make a contribution toward the Munger Hall agreement. Since discussions with the donor regarding financial commitment are still ongoing, the premature release of this record will jeopardize these ongoing negotiations and the final completion of the financial commitment documents.”
It is standard practice for government agencies to not release records that are part of ongoing negotiations or investigations, a constant source of tension in public records laws between transparency, accountability, and government efficiency. On the one hand, it makes sense that the government needs a certain degree of secrecy to conduct business; on the other hand, keeping such records secret can mean the public doesn’t have adequate information to oppose government initiatives until the deal is already done.
That this agreement has not already been finalized comes as something of a surprise, given that the university first announced the deal in 2016, dropped all other potential student housing projects from development, and has publicly presented Munger Hall as a fait accompli in multiple closed-door meetings. Per an agreement with local governments and housing activists, the university is legally obligated to build 3,500 more units of student housing by 2025.
The UCOP made one other argument in rejecting Motherboard’s public records request. “The public interest in ensuring the possibility of donated funding for UC student housing outweighs the interest in disclosure of said conceptual record.”
