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Monday, September 26, 2005

It’s “Free REIN”…

…but otherwise, a fine editorial in The Eagle, the American University student newspaper, calling this morning for the president’s resignation.

Actually, I rather like the editors’ description of the “virtually free reign” the trustees gave Ladner, an image drawn from royalty being more appropriate to the case than one drawn from horses:


Ladner has demonstrated a level of entitlement to student funds that is absolutely inappropriate for a university president. Whether he spent half a million dollars or merely tens of thousands, Ladner can best serve the AU community by stepping aside.

…[H]is sense of entitlement runs so deep that he doesn't actually have any idea that what he has done wrong.

…The board of trustees failed the university and the students. By allowing Ladner to have virtually free reign over his spending and compensation, they opened the door that the president and his wife have barged completely through. Examples of this can be found in Ladner's secret second contract signed in 1997. It appears that one half of the board had no clue what the other half was up to. The board's irresponsibility is exemplified in the length and cost of the investigation, which has now surpassed $1 million.

For this systemic problem to be properly resolved, the board must be restructured in addition to Ladner's resignation. Communication between board members must be increased, as well as communication with the students, and there should be a seat on the board reserved for a representative of the student body. Ladner must resign, and it would seem a few members of the broken board of trustees should be prepared to walk the plank with him.