ACLU sues Braun over IU board of trustees change
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Indiana University's campus. Photo: Arika Herron/Axios
Changes to the Indiana University Board of Trustees slipped into the state budget bill in the final days of the legislative session are being challenged in court.
Why it matters: The election for the open alumni seat on the board is set to begin next month.
- A lawsuit filed this week in Monroe County by the ACLU of Indiana and one of the candidates seeks an injunction to prevent the law, which would negate the election, from going into effect.
Catch up quick: Language added to last-minute budget deal gives Gov. Mike Braun total control over the nine-member board that governs the IU system body, overseeing its financial and legal affairs, administration and nearly 90,000 students.
- Previously, the governor appointed six of the nine members (including one student representative) and the other three seats were filled by alumni, elected by alumni.
- The budget language eliminates the elected seats, allowing Braun to appoint the entirety of the board, and gives Braun the power to replace any current elected board members.
Driving the news: The lawsuit alleges that the change violates the prohibition on "special legislation" in the Indiana Constitution, which bans laws that single out an individual case, person, company or industry for special treatment.
- "Every other four-year public university in the state has a process for allowing alumni to select at least some members of the board of trustees, and there is no justification for denying that ability to the alumni of IU," ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk said in a news release.
- While IU is alone in holding an election, other schools allow for input through alumni councils and associations.
The other side: Lawmakers defended the move by saying that participation in the election was low and Braun said he wants a board "that's going to produce better results."
What they're saying: "Alumni elected by alumni would, in effect, be replaced by the highest bidders seeking to gain favor for appointment," said a letter from more than two dozen past chairs of the Board of Managers of the IU Alumni Association.
- "Governors may appoint trustees because of their political beliefs, but alumni do not," the letter said. "That seems a valuable balance to ensure no party nor system of conservative or liberal views governs for any reason other than what is best for students, faculty, and the university."
Between the lines: Conservatives have been targeting higher education for years but those efforts have ramped up since President Trump took office in January and began making sweeping changes to the country's system of colleges and universities.
- Indiana lawmakers didn't only target IU with their last-minute additions to the budget bill. Other provisions erode tenure and remove decision-making authority from faculty at all of the state's public colleges and universities.
Delaney Howard, a rising senior at IU Bloomington studying biology and history, is worried about what the changes — federal and state — will mean for academic freedom.
- She's part of a new student group, Advocates for Science at IU.
- "We've been focusing on the research cuts that have been coming federally," she said. "And now, with the recent changes the governor has put in place … there's a lot of concern, specifically within research groups, about what's going to be allowed to go forward. Is there going to be free speech? Is there going to be free research?"
What we're watching: The IU Dean of Libraries, which administers the alumni election, sent an email to candidates Wednesday morning telling them there would not be an election because of the law change.
- Justin Vasel, the candidate who is the plaintiff in the Monroe County lawsuit, said he's proceeding with his campaign while he waits for a decision on the injunction.