$160,000 in Donor Money Spent at College of DuPage Restaurant

An additional $160,000 has been spent at the College of DuPage restaurant, Waterleaf, from an account that was previously undiscovered, the Chicago Tribune reported.

That money is on top of the $190,000 spent by college President Robert Breuder and senior managers over the past three years.

“The new records bolster criticism that college insiders have heavily subsidized the money-losing restaurant on the Glen Ellyn campus,” the Tribune reported. “Through house accounts, $1 in every $9 taken in by Waterleaf has come from the college or the foundation, according to a Tribune analysis of financial records.”

Waterleaf is a restaurant on the Glen Ellyn campus that is taxpayer supported. The restaurant is connected to the school’s culinary arts program.

The receipts for officials dining at the restaurant are often difficult to analyze, the Tribune reported.

“The foundation tabs are charged to a restaurant house account, much like a system used at a private country club, and then billed to the nonprofit organization,” the Tribune reported. “The receipts rarely indicate who was present at the meals or the reasons for them, making it difficult to know whether foundation officials were hosting prospective donors.”

The college has been cloaked in controversy lately.

• In January, school board members voted to send the community college’s president Robert Breuder away with a $762,000 buyout. That was funded by taxpayers.
• Then there were the business dealings at the college radio station and a move tocensure a board member.
• Earlier in March, it was revealed that nearly $200,000 was charged in food and liquor costs at the college’s fine dining restaurant, Waterleaf.
• The last week in March, the college allegedly awarded signage contracts to a foundation member without going to bid for the jobs.
• On April 13, the former radio station employee pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces.