Rob Sand graduated from the University of Iowa’s law school. He wore a tie with the school’s black-and-gold colors to work Monday. In his own words to Sports Illustrated: “I’m a Hawkeye.”
But the State Auditor and member of Iowa’s Appeal Board didn’t allow his allegiances to preclude him from calling out wrongdoing when he saw it. On Monday, he stood up for what he believed was right.
When the University of Iowa asked for $2 million of taxpayer funds to cover nearly half of a negotiated $4.175 million settlement with former Black football players who sued the program for racial discrimination, Sand said he would vote for the settlement as long as athletic director Gary Barta was removed from his job. Sand, a Democrat, was the only dissenting vote in the settlement that passed by a 2–1 margin along party lines.
