PA SENATOR McCORMICK AND THE CARNEGIE MUSEUMS — CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Although the museum doesn’t allow partisan political fundraisers at its facilities, McCormick’s allies held a fundraiser for him there in July. National and local media covered it, and the public responded with outrage. The museum’s defensive response was totally inadequate and further enraged the public. I waited several months to write the CEO and Board of Trustees about it. I wanted to give them time to work internally and make changes.
I contact CEOs and Boards directly when something is wrong. This works much better than contacting customer service or social media. I get genuine responses. Indeed, the Carnegie Museum President responded promptly, and it was a genuine response to my email, not a canned formula or a polished press release. My email and his are below. My conclusion is not that the Museum connived with McCormick; rather, I conclude they’re incompetent. They lacked the leadership and operations management to have prevented this, and I’m not sure that what they’ve put in place will prevent a recurrence.
In commenting on this post, rather than sharing your outrage (again), I’d like to focus on what fixes this problem—governance, management, operations, policies. For instance,
+ What third-party organizations audit museum operations to evaluate whether they are adequate to enforce museum policies, e.g., policies restricting museum rentals?
+ What can be learned from operations in other museums?
+ Have other museums experienced event-space renters breaking museum policy directly or indirectly (as the Carnegie’s president describes it in his response to me), and how have they responded?
+ What resources are available to the Board to address this—policy and operations guidance, best practices, crisis management and recovery, etc.
+ What actions are within the museum’s power to undertake that would regain your trust? (The museum does not have the power to get the money McCormick’s allies raised at the event.)
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Steven Knapp
President of Carnegie Museums
4400 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Dear Mr. Knapp
The Carnegie Museum lost the public’s trust by handling the McCormick rental of the museum the way it did. The museum’s response to public outrage only further eroded the public trust. As a result, you’ve lost memberships, donors, and legacy gifts. This is not an era when the museum can afford to lose funding.
To regain the public’s good will and trust, you need to explain how the museum will avoid a repeat of the McCormick fiasco.
+ What changes are you making in your policies to prevent another such incident?
+ How will you monitor rentals in the future?
I hope you will answer this letter with a real explanation rather than a canned formula. Without it, our family will not renew our membership, donate, or leave you a penny.
Yours truly,
Juliet A. Zavon
cc: Board of Trustees Carnegie Museums
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Dear Ms. Zavon,
All I can tell you is the truth, which is very simple. We were asked (on May 16) to rent space in our Oakland facilities for what we were told was a reception to follow the July 15 bipartisan Energy and Innovation Summit at neighboring Carnegie Mellon University. I have attended many summits and other conference over many years and do not recall a single one that was not followed by a reception for the sponsors and participants. This request seemed entirely routine.
Despite all the rumors and media reports, the space was not rented by Senator McCormick, and the event was not a fundraiser for Senator McCormick. He was billed as a speaker but, I understand from staff, did not actually speak at the event. The people invited to the reception were those who had paid for VIP access to the Summit. We were not informed of that criterion, and the organizers explicitly denied that there was any price for admission. I have personally seen both the invitation to the event and the email exchange with our staff in which a price for admission was emphatically denied.
It is unfortunate that trust in Carnegie Museums would be eroded by the fact that the institution was misled by an outside group as to the true nature of the reason for which they were renting space in our facilities. My personal frustration over that deception has been adequately covered in the media, and I have conveyed it to the Senator, who, once again, was not personally responsible for what occurred.
To answer your question: immediately after the event, we set to work to develop a questionnaire to be filled by staff for each new rental request. The aim of the questionnaire is to ascertain, as fully possible, the exact nature of the event, the identity of its sponsor(s), and whether any direct or (as in this case) indirect payment for admission will be charged.
Sincerely,
Steven Knapp