Statement on releases regarding the Knights of Columbus

Statement from Casey Nagy, executive assistant to the Chancellor, on the news release concerning the Knights of Columbus:

“I want to respond to the continuing discussion regarding the university’s news release last night, in which we indicated that an agreement had been reached to allow an affiliate organization of the Knights of Columbus to apply for Registered Student Organization status at the UW–Madison.

“I will reiterate the point I made earlier, that we believed an accord had been reached at the time the release was issued. Subsequent to the release, and continuing into today, we obviously have been made aware that not all parties to the discussion are comfortable with the representation that an “agreement” was reached. Different objections have been raised throughout the day, but the bottom line is clear: our perception of an agreement is not shared today by representatives of the Knights of Columbus.

“Many parties, including representatives of the press, have questioned the appropriateness of last night’s release. Let me be clear: we issued a release, in good faith, because we anticipated that it would help to alleviate growing anxiety over the ability of the Knights organization to make its programs available on campus. We also issued a release clarifying the changed circumstances brought to our attention this morning, based on the facts as we understood them at the time. In hindsight, in view of the objections that have been raised, it would have been better to defer comment. But, we didn’t.

“For the confusion that has resulted, and the distraction from the real question — of how to enable the good programs of the Knights organization to continue on campus — we apologize. We will continue to work toward an accord that all parties can endorse.

We have removed the two previous releases from our Web site.”