If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.
--Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyoming
Up front, The Tribune’s owner is a member of the Huntsman family and involved, if only peripherally, in the controversy involving the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and the University of Utah.
Commenting on this saga may have for some readers the appearance of a conflict of interest. Fair enough, and that’s why we are transparent about that conflict, as we have been on every Tribune story written about the HCI-U. controversy. But in light of recent emails, it’s worth reviewing a few facts in this painful saga.
We know Jon M. Huntsman vowed to build a world-class cancer research center to eradicate the horrible disease that claimed both of his parents.
We also know that in 1995, he gave a significant financial gift to the state of Utah, initiating a partnership with the University of Utah that the Huntsman family hoped would advance research faster than destructive cancer cells. The family poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the venture and that spurred millions more from individual donors, and HCI grew into the internationally respected, financially sound, patient-centered research facility it is today.
What we didn’t know is that HCI’s partner — the University of Utah — got greedy.
A Feb. 25, 2017, email from U. President David Pershing is the smoking gun.
Pershing wrote to his Health Sciences CEO Vivian Lee, “I wonder if thereis a way we could agree to their (Huntsman) understanding of theagreement but take total control of all cancer operations within theUniversity?” He continued, “and we somehow also get control of the fundraising.”
The email, among hundreds obtained last week by The Tribune through a public records request, reveals a plot to upend a longstanding financial agreement with a generous benefactor.
And it’s particularly jarringsince Pershing, director of the independent, three-member HuntsmanCancer Foundation (HCF) board, has a fiduciary duty to protect donorfunds.
Avarice and ineptitude havecost Pershing and Lee their jobs, tarnished the U.’s reputation,jeopardized the university’s most lucrative asset, and most importantly,unnecessarily shaken the confidence of patients, doctors andresearchers.
This bruise will heal, but only if a new contract is worked out sooner rather than later.
It’s in the best interest of our entire community that both the U. and Huntsman family hammer out an agreement to ensure life-saving cancer research continues in Utah and cancer patients get the loving care they need. This contract should have been settled months ago, but the effort was derailed by pride, jealousy and deceit.
Neither HCI nor the U. can wait any longer. This Memorandum of Understanding must be a top priority. Despite past missteps, Pershing needs to step forward with urgency and good faith, not relegate this duty to lawyers and consultants. For the sake of both parties and the state as a whole, this process must not be derailed by hurt feelings, past motives or even a thinly sourced and error-ridden story published in the Deseret News.
With new understanding, new university leadership, a new spirit of cooperation and continued financial support from the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, the U. and HCI can jointly focus on conquering the true rival facing all sides: cancer.