University of Minnesota administration officials have regularly, vehemently, and repeatedly denied that corporate farming interests—Big Agriculture—had not previewed Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story, a documentary on the Mississippi River and sustainable solutions to a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico created by midwest agriculture runoff. No way, the University declared, no how did Big Ag—or any other outside interest—have anything to do with the University’s actions surrounding the film. No pressure applied, nothing to see here, move along.
As it turns out, the film was indeed previewed by Kristin Weeks Duncanson, vice-chair of the board of directors of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council. That’s Big Ag to you and me. Jessica Van Berkel and Taryn Wobbema, writing for the Minnesota Daily, report that “Al Levine, dean of the College of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Sciences, sent Duncanson an unedited copy of the film and asked her to review it.” Duncanson is a former president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, the trade group that temporarily suspended US$1.5 million in grants to the University in 2008, on the heels of the University’s publication of a report examining the environmental impact of soybean farming. In her email to Levine after previewing the film, Duncanson notes, perhaps ominously, “... The comments regarding the Farm Bill could be very dangerous for the University.”
Karen Himle, the University’s vice president of university relations—the University administrator who initially censored the film—is married to John Himle, the co-founder and principal of Himle Horner, the public relations firm that represents Big Ag in Minnesota. John Himle was executive director of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council from 1978-82.
Brian DeVore, of the Land Stewardship Project, has a complete—and damning—chronology of the University’s actions surrounding Troubled Waters. The Land Stewardship Project has called for Karen Himle’s resignation because of an “obvious conflict of interest.”
Two weeks ago, in response to a Minnesota Data Practices Act request by Twin Cities media organizations, the University disgorged email and documents related to its actions surrounding the release of the film. Among the thousands of emails Minnesota Public Radio reporters Alex Freidrich and Bill Wareham uncovered evidence that University President Bob Bruininks had prior knowledge of Karen Himle’s act of censoring the film and stifling academic freedom after releasing statements to the contrary.
Meanwhile, Bruininks and other University administrators continue to stonewall any attempt at initiating an independent investigation of the University’s actions surrounding the film.
Disclosure notice: My potential conflicts of interest are clearly listed in the “Disclosure box” sidebar. To be absolutely clear: I have been employed by the University of Minnesota’s College of Design as senior editor/ecommunications manager since 25 July 2006.
0 responses. Comments closed for this article.