More Scholargate: the Dallas Morning News reports that in 2007 Eddie Bernice Johnson awarded $1,000 in college scholarship funds to the daughter of DFW Airport vice president Don O’Bannon. Johnson, as we know, owns a 25 percent stake in two Hudson News stores at DFW held in a blind trust. Don O’Bannon oversees contracts with minority-owned businesses at DFW, including Johnson’s. O’Bannon’s daughter is now a senior at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. (Full disclosure: I believe I met the young woman when she came to a Dartmouth student send-off party at our home.)
Many are calling this another example of Johnson’s “cronyism,” and even an attorney for Johnson’s trust said the $1,000 award makes him uncomfortable. Tuition at Dartmouth these days, including room, board, and mandatory fees, runs $52,275.
