It wasn’t a rumour it was a specific quote from Elliot in the minutes.
Not as I recall.
There was a bit about potentially closing the academy and then a comment from JE that it would look bad (my paraphrase).
Now, firstly, JE had historically been the sponsor of the academy, so it would be a bit of an about turn for him to then be pushing to close it.
Secondly, I have far too many years' experience of Boards and how Board minutes are used.
In most Boards, any contentious decisions are/were made before the meeting started and then went through "on the nod" (very different now, if you're in a regulated sector).
I took the JE comments to be a watered down reference to him challenging the proposal to close the academy, not to be proof that he was pushing it.
Still, only those actually in the meeting will know.