Letter to the University of Phoenix

April 23, 2010
 
P. Robert Moya
General Counsel
 

Dear Mr. Moya:

Thank you for your letter, dated April 22.

We appreciated the information you provided in your letter.  We presume you keep separate data on campus and online attendance, but note that the data you provided did not distinguish between the two student bodies.  We hope you can supplement your response in this regard.

I must also correct for the record your description of the sequence of events leading up to your cancellation of our interviews with senior executives at the University of Phoenix.
 
You say in your letter that the University of Phoenix withdrew as a result of our filming at the job fair in Chicago.  This does not comport with the chronology.
 
We filmed at the job fair in Chicago on December 8, 2009.  On December 9, 2009, Sara Jones wrote me an email taking issue with our presence at the job fair and I replied that same day.
 
Several days later, on December 14, Sara Jones and I met at Phoenix Airport.  In that meeting, we discussed the events surrounding the job fair and, at the end of the meeting, Sara Jones reaffirmed that we would have on-camera interviews on February 2, 2010 with Dr. Pepicello, Dr. Klor de Alva and Ms. Bishop, as well as an opportunity to film online and campus classes.  Sara Jones provided further confirmation that she was holding the date -- Tuesday, February 2 -- for these interviews in an email on December 22, 2009.
 
Then on January 26, 2010, a week before these scheduled interviews, we were informed via an email from Sara Jones that the University of Phoenix would "decline on-camera involvement in your forthcoming documentary."  This email gives no reason for the decision to withdraw and makes absolutely no mention of the jobs fair filming.
 
Sincerely,
Martin Smith