On one hand we have a university in desperate need of money for its red-ink athletic program, among other areas, aggressively soliciting public and private funds.

On the other, the same university is dragging its feet and obfuscating on whom and how it spent some of the estimated $2 million for the official travel party to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

What's wrong with this picture?

Well, at the University of Hawai'i, a lot, unfortunately.

UH's refusal to come clean on how it spent state money for the Jan. 1 Bowl Championship Series game more than four months after the fact does little to recommend the trust it is seeking.

Manoa Chancellor Virginia S. Hinshaw, whose nearly year-old administration has been attempting to project more of an openness than some of its predecessors, has been ill-served by the counsel it has acted upon. And that's too bad because here was an issue that UH could have taken and run with. Here was an opportunity to demonstrate transparency and trust.

There has traditionally been much distrust of the behind-closed-doors manner in which UH is perceived to operate. Decades of insider deals, backroom politics and buddy-buddy relationships have made suspicion a natural reaction when it comes to UH operations.

So much so, in fact, that even before UH was chosen for a BCS bowl rumors began to fly about with whom the school would fill its charter flights and hotels rooms. That UH made a mess of the ticket situation and a brisk mark-up in tickets developed only added to the questions.

How UH was putting together its travel party was a big enough concern in December that the State Ethics Commission — which said it had fielded questions about the process — had a meeting with school officials in an effort to head off possible problems.

When scores of politicians and even former UH President Evan Dobelle turned up around the team hotel in New Orleans and the game rumors — many unfounded — began to fly.

So against that backdrop, it was natural to wonder who was in the Big Easy on their own and who reaped the benefits of traveling on the public's dime. When answers weren't forthcoming months after the game, The Advertiser filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act. One that UH continues to dodge.

It may well be that UH was scrupulous in selecting its travel party. You really hope so.

But, to this point, UH has not done itself or its reputation any good by retreating to the shadows.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.