IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta broke his silence about the University of Iowa’s controversial decision to not help the Iowa Swarm Collective with contacting potential donors.

Barta released an open letter to Hawkeye fans that was posted on Twitter Tuesday morning.

His letter comes three days after Hawk Fanatic published an article in which Brad Heinrichs, who is the CEO for the Iowa Swarm Collective, voiced his frustration with Iowa’s refusal to help him contact potential donors in an attempt to raise money from name, image and likeness.

Heinrichs, a 1997 UI graduate and a former Iowa golfer who now lives in Florida, said to Hawk Fanatic last Saturday that he has been told that his alma mater wouldn’t help him contact donors, or give him the lists of ticket holders for football and basketball unless the money raised by the Swarm Collective is distributed equally between all the sports teams at Iowa to meet Title IX requirements.

The Iowa Swarm Collective was created to raise NIL money for football and men’s and women’s basketball, and Heinrichs doesn’t want to deviate from that plan.

An open letter from Gary Barta: #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/9xChmFQw24

— The Iowa Hawkeyes (@TheIowaHawkeyes) December 27, 2022