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Just one day after Gov. Mike Braun signed the state’s next two-year budget into law, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit to halt a provision slipped last-minute into the must-pass legislation last month.
The Wednesday filing urges the Monroe County Circuit Court to rule on a budget provision giving the governor full control over Indiana University’s board of trustees — and that went into effect Tuesday with Braun’s signature. Previously, three members of the nine-person committee were elected by IU alumni and the governor appointed the others.
“The new provisions violate the prohibition on special legislation contained in the Indiana Constitution,” said Ken Falk, the ACLU’s Indiana legal director, in a statement. “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.”
The target on IU, and not other higher education institutions, makes those sections of the newly enacted budget “special legislation,” the lawsuit alleged.
At Purdue University, three of the 10 board of trustees members are similarly elected by the school’s alumni association. Both Ball State University and Indiana State University have an alumni council that nominates two members for its nine-member board.
At the University of Southern Indiana, all nine members are appointed by the governor, though three are selected from a pool of screened applicants provided by the schools’ alumni association.
In contrast, the governor controls the entire membership of Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University — both of which are two-year institutions.
Trustees traditionally approve budgets, set tuition rates and oversee new academic programs alongside campus projects.
More on the lawsuit
The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of Justin Vasel, a Bloomington resident and IU alumnus. Vasel was a candidate for the IU board election scheduled to begin in June, along with five other alumni.
“When I decided to run for IU Trustee, I committed to defending the university’s interests and alumni representation. I never imagined my first act would be to defend the very existence of the position itself,” Vasel said in a statement. “Thousands of alumni are preparing to cast their votes in this election, as they have done for over 130 years. Their voices deserve to be heard and respected, not silenced through legislative maneuvering that our state constitution was designed to prevent.”
Previously, members served three-year terms with the exception of the student appointee, who served a two-year term. The student term is now one year. And Braun has the power to replace the three members chosen by alumni mid-term — though he previously said he’d keep current board members because their terms are up soon.
Braun also criticized previous elections for low voter turnout, saying that only 1.7% of alumni participated.
But some alumni criticized how lawmakers introduced the provision in the final version of the budget after public hearings had concluded, meaning they had no opportunity to provide input.
Wednesday’s ACLU filing concluded by urging the court to issue a preliminary injunction and declare the relevant portions unconstitutional.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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