Michael Moore

The presidential election is over and Michael Moore's crusade to get citizens to vote for a liberal candidate failed, but even with George W. Bush in office some alumni are still upset about Moore's October visit to the UA.

Some students working for the Telephone Outreach Program, associated with the UA Foundation, have experienced negative feedback from some alumni because of Moore's appearance.

Molly Leimontas, a student employee of the Telephone Outreach Program, said when she asked an alumnus to donate money Sunday, he refused because of Moore's visit.

"He was mad that the university paid to have Michael Moore speak here," said Leimontas, a psychology sophomore. "He said he wouldn't donate any money until the university paid for a conservative talk show host to come to campus."

But university funding did not sponsor Moore. The Associated Students of the University of Arizona paid for Moore's visit solely with funds generated from ticket sales to the event, said Fernando Ascencio, ASUA Speakers Board director.

"Some people might have been under the impression that donor dollars went to Moore," said Rodney Campbell, communications director of the UA Foundation. "That's simply not the case, there are much more pressing needs than bringing a speaker to campus."

Campbell said donors who are worried about how future political visits are funded can rest assured their donation dollars will have no part in it.

"Donor money is not directed toward that," Campbell said. "ASUA was in charge of that."

Donna Morton, the annual fund manager for the UA Foundation, said it is normal for alumni to have reasons not to donate money and many of those are not because of Moore.

"People always have a comment about something," Morton said. "As a parent to a student myself, I find many reasons I would say, 'That makes me mad.'"

Campbell said the Telephone Outreach Program is part of Campaign Arizona, a fundraising campaign aimed to raise $1 billion for the UA, but a lot of the donation money is restricted to certain colleges on campus.

"Donors have certain interests and may request that their donations go to certain areas on campus," Campbell said. "Less than 1 percent of the campaign money comes in unrestricted dollars."