Possible violation privacy laws by TT/BB player

[OldTimer]

Who would have records of late to practice dates and missing practice dates

of a basketball player, missing breakfast, etc. This was an AP article published by the Star Telegram.

Tech looks into release of player's records

The Associated Press

LUBBOCK - Texas Tech officials began an investigation Tuesday to find out how confidential records of a former men's basketball player got out to the public and if the records' release violates privacy laws.

The documents were distributed to about 20 people last week at a gathering of Lubbock business leaders who were putting together an advertising campaign to honor men's coach Bob Knight and women's coach Marsha Sharp, both of whom garnered milestone victories this season.

The two-page document about Nick Valdez, obtained by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, details no-shows or late arrivals to practices and workouts going back to last season and lists allegations of student misconduct separate from the basketball program.

Valdez quit the team on Feb. 21, four days after he and teammate Andre Emmett were given one-game suspensions for missing breakfast and the morning shootaround before Tech played at Texas. Emmett rejoined the team a few days after the incident.

Federal law protects student records and their release can jeopardize an institution's federal funding.

Under the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, better known as the Buckley Amendment, a school may release "directory information:" a student's name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of athletic team members, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student.

An attorney who represents the Avalanche-Journal told the newspaper the document is protected by Buckley because Valdez's name is on it.

Katherine Garner, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that as a general rule, data other than directory information should not be released, though "this situation may be too fact-specific for me to comment on."

Pat Campbell, vice chancellor and general counsel for the system, told The AP he did not have a copy of the document the newspaper obtained but has asked for it from the school "and surely it will come to me."

"My task is to see if that information has FERPA implications," Campbell said. "The president [of the university] wasn't joking when he said, 'Look into this,' and I certainly will."

In a statement, Donald Haragan, Tech's interim president, said no one at the university or in the athletic department ever intended to release the document publicly.

"The last thing we as a university ever want to do is embarrass a student or cause concern to a student's family. Issues involving student athletes are best kept between the student and the coaching staff," he said in the statement.

Calls to Tech basketball spokesman Randy Farley and Tech athletic director Gerald Myers by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.