Bob Dewitz was amazed when his daughter received an official-looking letter in the mail from state Sen. Will Espero this month, encouraging her to consider Seattle University, Espero's alma mater, as her college choice.

The letter was on official Senate stationery and the envelope had Espero's letterhead and the Hawai'i state seal.

It told of how the university's Jesuit Catholic mission develops leaders and had provided the senator with the foundation to be successful. Espero, who earned a business management degree from the university in 1982, also wrote that his oldest son would graduate from the university next year.

Espero is "basically becoming a marketing arm for a private entity," said Dewitz, the chief executive of two electrical companies and whose daughter goes to Mid-Pacific Institute. "Why is this guy marketing Seattle University as a state senator?"

Espero, D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Waipahu), said the university asked him to provide a letter and a copy of his letterhead as part of a recruitment drive in Hawai'i that was mailed to about 1,100 recipients. He insists, and e-mail correspondence between him and the university confirms, that the university promised the appeal would be labeled as an unofficial, personal letter from the senator.

But the letter and envelope were made to look as official as possible as an incentive for recruits to open it and distinguish the pitch from dozens of other college marketing letters they might receive. The university paid the costs of producing the letters and envelopes and for the postage, so no taxpayer money was involved. The only way to tell the mailing was not from Hawai'i was the Seattle postmark.

Espero said he was comfortable with the letter on Senate stationery but not with the way the envelope was presented, after he was shown a copy by The Advertiser. After thinking about it more, he said he would probably reconsider the entire format.

"This is the first time they've asked and I was quite honored that they asked me," said the senator, who saw the letter as a testimonial to higher education.

Michael McKeon, the dean of admissions at Seattle University, said university staff mistakenly left out a disclaimer that the letter was unofficial and personal. The university approached Espero, McKeon said, because he was a distinguished graduate whose experience might be persuasive to young people in Hawai'i. On other occasions, he said, the university sent out similar recruiting letters from Frank Murkowski, the Alaska governor and former U.S. senator who graduated from the university.

"Certainly I feel awful about this," McKeon said, adding that Espero was simply trying to do something nice for his alma mater. "We paid for the postage. We approached him. But I can assure you that from an ethical perspective there was nothing that he did that was wrong."

Under the state ethics code, lawmakers are not allowed to give out unwarranted privileges, including using state time and equipment for private business purposes. In 1988, the Hawai'i State Ethics Commission issued an advisory opinion that found a lawmaker had misused his position by including his official title and the state seal on a flier endorsing a business where he had done some work. The opinion was considered a written reprimand but the commission declined to the take any further action.

The opinion also noted that it is a misdemeanor under state law to use the state seal in advertisements that imply state approval.

Dan Mollway, the commission's executive director, said he could not comment directly on the Espero letter but said that, in general, such activity raises questions.

"It raises an issue of whether it's more of a personal enterprise than anything that had to do with the duties of a legislator," he said.

In the competitive realm of college recruiting, it is common for prominent alumni to be involved in attracting new students. The University of Hawai'i Foundation, for example, asks alumni on the Mainland to represent the university at college fairs and do other outreach.

"The value, I think, is to recruit the best and the brightest," said Kevin Takamori, associate vice president of alumni relations at the UH Foundation.

McKeon said the Espero letter was sent to Hawai'i high-school students who had in some way asked about Seattle University, such as by filling out cards at college fairs, in response to previous direct-mail campaigns or through its Web site.

Dewitz said his daughter probably inquired about the university through the Internet but does not plan to apply. He said he felt the Espero letter was an improper use of the senator's office and should not have mentioned the school's Jesuit mission.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.