The University of Montana Adams Center has offered to donate $75,000 to the Elton John AIDS Foundation “in appreciation” for the April 11, 2008 Elton John concert.

The agreement does not say how the Adams Center will raise the donation.

On March 3, 2008, the Montana Kaimin obtained from UM’s Legal Counsel office a copy of a “Memorandum of Understanding” sent to the Howard Rose Agency, Elton’s representatives in concert negotiations. The memo, sent by the Adams Center administration, states that “in appreciation for making room in his concert touring schedule, UM has agreed to transfer the donation of $75,000 to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.”

The memo was sent out recently and has not yet been signed by either Adams Center director Mary Muse or Howard Rose of the Howard Rose Agency. As such, the conditions are still under negotiation. “We’re doing this as a good business decision for the benefit of this community,” Muse said in an interview with the Kaimin.

Muse said that an appearance by a musician of Elton’s caliber was beneficial to both the campus and the community and could bolster UM’s appeal to prospective students. “It’s good for the state, it’s good for the community … it’s good for the students,” she said.

According to the memo, the Adams Center “will deliver a certified check in the amount of Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars ($75,000) to Rose on behalf of the Foundation at the close of Elton John’s performance on April 11, 2008.” Muse said the Adams Center has been networking within the Missoula community to raise the donation, and locals have so far been supportive of the effort. Some UM student groups are aiding the donation effort as well, she said.

Muse did not say how the Adams Center would fulfill the obligation if it is unable to raise the full $75,000, but said she was not the only official on campus involved in the process. “This is supported across the institution,” Muse said. “I’m not the only person working on this. That would be quite daunting.”

However, UM President George Dennison said the University is not responsible for raising any money for the donation. “There was an agreement to assist, but it’s to be raised and we’re not paying any University money for it,” Dennison told the Kaimin.

Dennison said he was unaware of the specific conditions of the memo and was not privy to any of the memo negotiations. “I haven’t seen the agreement. I didn’t negotiate the contract, or the agreement for that matter,” Dennison said. The possibility of a second Elton John concert in Missoula first came under fire last fall, when Rose criticized UM’s management and production of the October 2007 concert in an e-mail to Muse. In the e-mail, Rose said the agency was “open to re evaluating a Univ (sic) of Montana concert under the right conditions” and suggested UM consider changes to its “student project team,” UM Productions.

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