A flock of University of Wisconsin-Madison administrators cut campaign checks to state leaders before the 2004 election, hoping to win the leaders’ respect during budget season.
Chancellor John Wiley and others made after-hours phone calls to deans and high-profile campus leaders, discussing the possibility of making contributions to various campaigns, confirmed Casey Nagy, Wiley’s special assistant.
A Capital Times review of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s database showed that at least 18 UW leaders, including 11 deans, the provost, the police chief, assistants to the chancellor and the university’s top lawyer, sent checks to candidates’ campaigns in 2004.