Confidentiality issues arose from San Diego State's letters to Mountain West

San Diego State‘s method of communication and its list of recipients when it notified the Mountain West Conference it “intends to resign” by June 30, 2024, or an agreed-upon later date, could prove to be a misstep.

On3 obtained numerous emails through a public records request that provides an inside look at how the conference and its presidents responded to San Diego State’s notice of its intention to resign.

San Diego State President Adela de la Torre wrote to the conference and its members on June 13. San Diego State Deputy Chief of Staff Ana Molina-Rodriguez attached de la Torre’s letter in an email to Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and the presidents of the 11 other member institutions.

“I was surprised the letter did not include a ‘Confidential’ watermark,” Hawaii president David Lassner replied in an email the following day to Nevarez and the 10 other presidents.

Lassner suggested “a reminder of our exact exit language and any Board minutes around the adoption of that specific language,” as well as an estimate of the financial windfall the conference would receive from San Diego State’s men’s basketball team’s national runner-up finish in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Nevarez said she would provide the requested information.

In contrast to the lack of confidentiality in San Diego State’s letter that Lassner noted, the conference worked to keep internal own communication confidential.

The day before de la Torre’s initial letter, the Mountain West Board of Directors received a document containing its key takeaways from its board meeting in Honolulu the week prior. The password-protected document expired after seven days.

On June 15, two days after San Diego State’s first letter, the Mountain West held an athletic directors meeting, which included a Dropbox link containing the agenda and supplements, which was deactivated at the conclusion of the meeting.

San Diego State requested first letter not go public

On the day of de la Torre’s initial letter, Nevarez told the 11 other presidents that she planned to work with the Mountain West’s legal counsel, Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partner Jared Bartie, to “determine our response acknowledging receipt.”

The conference scheduled a board meeting without San Diego State to discuss its response to the letter.

After de la Torre sent her first letter, she later requested to the Mountain West in hopes that it remain private. San Diego State is a public university, which means members of the public can file public records requests.

“In working through the process with SDSU, Adela has just requested that Presidents not forward the letter to Athletic Directors to limit the chance of it becoming public,” Nevarez wrote to the presidents on June 14. “I’m guessing some may have already forwarded by now. The Board should keep SDSU’s requests confidential until it has a chance to meet and confer. I’d advise keeping your athletic directors updated verbally without sharing the actual letter at this time.

“If you’ve already shared with your athletic director, please remind them this is confidential until we agree on a communication strategy.”

Fresno State president Saúl Jimenez-Sandoval and Lassner each replied that they hadn’t shared the letter.

June 30 was San Diego State’s deadline to provide a notice of withdrawal in time for the 2024-25 academic year without its exit fee doubling from roughly $17 million to roughly $34 million.

Amid the Pac-12 Conference‘s ongoing media rights negotiations, San Diego State is a primary conference expansion candidate, given that UCLA and USC depart for the Big Ten in 2024. San Diego State’s first letter to the Mountain West requested an extension of its notice to resign “given unforeseen delays involving the other collegiate athletic conferences beyond our control.”

San Diego State sends third letter on June 30

On June 30, On3 obtained a third letter that de late Torre provided to Nevarez and the rest of the Mountain West’s members.

In the letter, de la Torre wrote, “We previously advised you that SDSU had not made a final determination as to whether to resign from the Mountain West Conference. I am pleased to advise you that SDSU had decided to remain in the Mountain West Conference and therefore will not be resigning at this time.

“Accordingly, SDSU remains a member in good standing of the Conference. We look forward to full participation in the upcoming year.”

The letter was sent last Friday, leading into the weekend before the Fourth of July. San Diego State received at least one out-of-office reply from a Mountain West president who was traveling.

Nevada Sports Net reported, “Heads of the conference will meet on July 17 to discuss SDSU’s ‘status’ in the conference.”