Former OSU President Kayse Shrum Responds To Audit; Says Legal Counsel Was Followed

Former Oklahoma State President Kayse Shrum has responded to the release of an audit that revealed mismanagement of $41 million in state funds at OSU.

Shrum was only notified of the audit results on Wednesday and said any assumptions that management of funds was under the guidance of legal advice of legal counsel and approved by the board of regents.

"I have been asked to comment on news articles about the release of an internal audit performed on behalf of the Oklahoma State University Board of Regents. I only received a copy of this audit yesterday by reading a news article. 

Most importantly, there is absolutely no money missing. No state money has been taken . All of the money is still in OSU accounts and was spent on delivering education and research per the mission of the university.

Second, as President of the University I utilized the legal counsel of the board of regents. The transfer of funds from OSUMA to OSU was approved by the board of regents with input from legal counsel. The research institutes and structure of the Innovation Foundation was presented to the Board of Regents on multiple occasions and the regents have representation on the board of the Innovation Foundation.

Third, I do not have any knowledge that any laws were broken. To my knowledge, absolutely nothing was done that was wrong or inappropriate. My training is as a physician, I am not a lawyer, and I relied upon the same legal advice that the Board of Regents were given. 

Any inference that anything was done wrong, based on everything that I know during my tenure as President, is simply not accurate. 

As you may know, I am currently on a sabbatical and no longer the President. I am currently acting only as a mother, wife and grandmother of my new grandson."

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates

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Audit of Oklahoma State University finds mismanagement of $41 million in state funds