MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – At least four state officials are paying back the University of Vermont for free tickets to last weekend’s championship basketball game.

UVM invited dozens of people from the public and private sector to attend the America East championship as President Daniel Fogel’s guests. Legislators and political appointees with a say in the university’s state budget allocation were among those who received free tickets.

Fogel said the invitations were a way to share an exciting moment with friends of the university and to build goodwill.

The guest list was a buzz topic among UVM fans and in the Statehouse when it was reported in The Burlington Free Press Tuesday.

It was not clear Friday how many state officials may have reimbursed the university, which declined to answer immediately. The university asked that the request for information be made in writing.

Administration Secretary Mike Smith said he paid for his tickets after Tuesday’s story.

He advised State Buildings Commissioner Tom Torti and Human Services Secretary Charles Smith to do the same; both have paid.

“I just didn’t want any ambiguity,” Mike Smith said.

He said the Douglas administration’s ethics policy for political appointees bars gifts from “private interests.” UVM is a part-public, part-private school.

“In case anybody thought those two tickets would reverse my position on funding the university, I wanted to pay,” said Torti.

Torti recommended less state money than UVM sought for building projects next year.

It was not the $23 price tag that made the tickets hard to come by but high demand that far outstripped supply.

Some UVM fans waited in line all night to buy tickets for the game between the Catamounts and the University of Maine Black Bears.

State Auditor Elizabeth Ready said she paid for her two tickets when she accepted them before the game. She said she gave the second ticket to a ticketless UVM employee she saw in the gymnasium lobby.

Ready said the issue was about access to tickets more than price.

But UVM alumnus Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie said attending the game was an important gesture of support for the university.

“I was proud to be there,” he said.

This week he sent the university a $200 check.

“I wish it could be $2,000,” Dubie said. “It was my statement to say, ‘This ain’t about the money.”‘

AP-ES-03-20-04 0836EST