Alden's salary to come solely from athletic revenue, not curator

By Jedd Rosche

Published July 12, 2006

UM system Curator Donald Walsworth will no longer donate to fund MU Athletic Director Mike Alden's salary — Walsworth had donated $50,000 each year since 2003.

Alden's base salary of $229,500 will now be funded solely by athletics revenue.

Though the exact details of the agreement are being developed by UM system General Counsel Bunky Wright, Joe Moore, a spokesman for the UM system, said recent discussion about Walsworth's donation in media accounts prompted the change.

"The private supplement to the salary was recently written about," Moore said. "Administrators felt it would be best to clarify that the salary would be paid by athletic department revenues as opposed to a specific donor."

Moore said UM system President Elson Floyd had discussed the idea with MU Chancellor Brady Deaton.

Moore said university officials had considered stopping the donations in 2004.

"Public opinion regarding supplementing salaries with private funds was somewhat negative, and we decided not to continue the process after that year," he said.

MU Athletic spokesman Chad Moller said Walsworth is the only one of the nine curators to have donated regularly to the salary of an MU employee.