Memorial University is confirming and defending the spending of more than $100,000 on an event that included a weekend retreat at the lavish Fogo Island Inn.
The four-day Arctic Forum was hosted by MUN and took place in early November, with the first day in St. John’s before moving to Fogo for the final three.
It’s a partnership between MUN, Norway’s University of the Arctic, and the Shorefast Foundation, whose founder and CEO, Zita Cobb, gave a presentation at the 5-star hotel that she had built on stilts.
Via the Fogo Island Inn on Facebook
The forum is billed as a chance to brainstorm and develop partnerships to benefit both regions, with the guest list including ambassadors to and from Norway, academics, politicians, industry and non-profit leaders, plus a dozen delegates from MUN.
All tolled, it cost Memorial about $57,000 in direct expenses, plus another $53,000 covered by “external funding and participant costs.”
Staff may have also used travel funding from department budgets that “might not be” included in the total.
In a statement to VOCM, MUN says holding the event at the Fogo Island Inn helps attract top delegates and presenters while highlighting the province as a premier destination for world-class events,
When asked whether the Board of Regents had any say in the spending, MUN says they weren’t asked.
