A Kentucky judge has ruled that the University of Louisville Foundation cannot keep secret the names of its 45,000 donors, except for 62 who had specifically requested anonymity.

The ruling, which came last week, grows from the same lawsuit that led the judge to rule in July 2002 that the foundation is a state agency and subject to the state's open-records laws.

The foundation has appealed that ruling, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the case on October 8.

A lawyer for the foundation, Michael D. Risley, said he was pleased that the court had recognized the right to privacy of the 62 donors who had requested anonymity. "Without the ability to honor such a request the Foundation has a legitimate fear that donations may otherwise be lost," wrote Judge Steve Mershon of the circuit court in Jefferson County.

But Mr. Risley said he was disappointed that the ruling would require disclosing information on all the other donors. He said that the foundation would appeal that part of this new ruling but that he hoped the higher court would find that the foundation is not subject to open-records laws and make that disclosure unnecessary. "If we prevail on the first appeal, then this issue is moot," Mr. Risley said.

The Courier-Journal, a newspaper in Louisville, filed the lawsuit in the summer of 2001, after one of its editors was denied access to information on the names of donors and the amounts given to the McConnell Center for Political Leadership. The center, which trains political leaders and invites well-known speakers for seminars and events, was created in 1991 by the university and the state's senior U.S. senator, Mitch McConnell, a Republican.

The Courier-Journal was especially interested in donations to the center because they might be used as a form of lobbying, said the newspaper's lawyer, Jon L. Fleischaker. If a person or company wanted to curry favor with Senator McConnell without having a campaign contribution recorded publicly, Mr. Fleischaker said, one way to do that "is to respond favorably when he asked for money for the university."

The newspaper also sought information on whether companies and individuals that do business with the university or state were donating to the university in secret.

As the fund-raising arm of the university, the foundation raises about $450-million a year, and Mr. Fleischaker said the newspaper and others are seeking greater accountability on how the foundation spends that money.

The issue of expenses has intensified in recent months because of the travails of the university's former president, John W. Shumaker. He stepped down from the presidency of the University of Tennessee in August, after just two years in office, amid allegations of financial and ethical improprieties. Now questions are also being raised about his tenure at Louisville.

"One of the things everyone wants to know is how much money was spent on Shumaker," Mr. Fleischaker said.