After it was revealed that President Alexander Gonzalez endorsed the hunting of red-listed animals in Tanzania, Sacramento State called in media relations expert Doug Elmets to help the university save face.

Elmets, president of Elmets Communication, once worked in the White House under the Reagan Administration as a speechwriter, but is best known locally for the “Yes on Q & R” campaign, which proposed a tax increase to pay for a new arena for the Sacramento Kings.

Although Elmets has been hired as a public relations expert, he is not a member of the Public Relations Society of America, the world’s largest public relations association, Kathy Mulvihill, accreditation manager for PRSA said.

Dennis Laskey, senior public relations major, said the university should be careful hiring someone who is not a member of PRSA.

“If you’re hiring a PR consultant to reshape someone’s image…he better know what he’s doing,” Laskey said.

Elmets declined to comment.

Laurie Hall, writer and editor for the office of Public Affairs, said Elmets was “hired to give an outsider’s perspective to the administration.”

She said the university is currently going through a period of transition and personnel changes.

“We’re just looking for some counsel,” she said.

The counsel came after news broke that Gonzalez signed letters to the Tanzanian government requesting that locals Paul and Renee Snider be allowed to hunt animals for a campus museum. Plans for the museum have since been set aside.

“I should have been more careful. I should have scrutinized (the letters) more carefully,” Gonzalez said. “I hope the university understands clearly who I am and that I made a mistake.”

Timothy Howard, assistant professor of public relations, said public relations, and more importantly, public relationships, work to strengthen the overall morale of Sac State.

“It’s important that the president does follow some PR practices to be more transparent on and off the campus,” he said. “As a campus, we want to have a president with a positive presence and reputation…obviously we want to make CSUS be seen as one of the distinguished campuses of the CSU system.”

Elmets, who charges $275 an hour for his services, is being paid by University Enterprises Inc.

Calls to University Enterprises Inc. were not returned, but Hall explained the university’s rationale.

“We are always sensitive to state funds and (UEI paying for it) allows us to get…advice without using state funds,” she said.

Laskey said bringing in a consultant shows Gonzalez is trying to reconnect with the students.

“I think it’s a good thing to reshape the president’s image,” he said. “It definitely shows integrity – it shows he cares about the school.”

John Stinson, English graduate student, has a different take. He said he is upset the campus is focusing its resources on hiring someone when he thinks Gonzalez would be more successful talking to students, faculty and staff without hired help.

“His decisions that he’s not thinking about are devaluing the campus,” Stinson said. “He’s just not being very smart. It’s affecting the image of Sac State a lot.”

He also questioned why the campus couldn’t use that money to update equipment or fund scholarships.

“Every time he makes a bad decision like this, my degree is worth less,” Stinson said.

Gonzalez admitted his wrongdoing but said the road to recovery involves the whole campus community.

“If we’re going to break this cycle of the anti-administration stance that’s been here for 30 plus years…I think people are going to have to start working together,” Gonzalez said. “What I would like to see is: Let’s move forward and work together to make the campus a better place. There’s always room for improvement, not only for me but for everyone on this campus.”

Natalye Childress Smith can be reached at [email protected].