The subpoena Brown has received from New York's attorney general in connection with his investigation of college study abroad programs is "not unusual" and is not a cause for concern, the University's top lawyer told The Herald on Monday.
"There's nothing as far as I can tell that is ominous about it," said Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel. The subpoena, which was also sent to 14 other schools earlier this month, requests general information about how the University conducts its study abroad program, but was "not tailored to Brown" specifically, she said.
Such "broad inquiries," Ledbetter added, do not mean anything is amiss at Brown's Office of International Programs, and the information demanded by the subpoena was probably identical for all 15 schools.
Andrew Cuomo, the New York attorney general, began his investigation in August after a New York Times article revealed objectionable practices at some colleges in which universities' study abroad officials had exclusive relationships with providers and had steered students toward these programs in exchange for cash incentives or perks, such as travel benefits or seats on the advisory boards of those providers.
Ledbetter said the University received the subpoena around Jan. 16 and that it planned to respond to the attorney general by sometime in March. Until then, Ledbetter's office will work with the OIP to gather and present information about Brown's study abroad program and its policies.
"Usually, they're asking for a lot of information and documentation," she said, "so we have to review it." As for the amount and nature of information the University will provide, and how that decision would be made, she added, "All those are still questions."
"It takes a lot of time to gather that information," she said.
Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs and associate dean of the College, declined to be interviewed for this article.
The Times reported Jan. 21 that Cuomo was expanding his investigation to include 15 schools, including Brown, Columbia, Cornell and Harvard. On Sunday, the Hartford Courant reported that Connecticut's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, has joined Cuomo's investigation and has sent letters to ten schools in that state, including Yale.
Benjamin Lawsky, a lawyer in Cuomo's office, told the Times that the 15 schools subpoenaed by the New York attorney general were selected because of concern that some had "affiliation agreements" with study abroad providers.
Of five study abroad providers that Cuomo subpoenaed at the beginning of his investigation, four currently offer their services through the OIP, The Herald reported Nov. 29.
The Center for Education Abroad at Arcadia University, the Danish Institute for Study Abroad, the Institute for the International Education of Students and the Institute for Study Abroad at Butler University were all among those that received letters from the attorney general's office in August.
But Ledbetter denied that there was any reason to be alarmed, saying that Brown was probably chosen because it is among those schools with "more robust study abroad programs," while other schools do not have such resources. "I don't think there's anything problematic with Brown's program," she said.
The other schools subpoenaed earlier this month by Cuomo's office are Northwestern, American, Brandeis, Fordham, Alfred and Pace universities, along with Alfred State, Manhattanville, Siena and Hobart and William Smith colleges and the College of New Rochelle, Lawsky told the Associated Press. A spokesman at the attorney general's Albany, N.Y., office did not return a message left Monday.
The OIP does not directly address the subpoena on its Web site, but it does state that "Brown has never received discounts or commissions from, nor has it ever entered into exclusivity contracts with approved program providers."
Molly de Ramel, a University spokeswoman, said Brown did not yet have any additional information regarding the subpoena, and that it was "sticking to" the Jan. 22 statement that confirmed it had received the subpoena and planned to respond.
