In the days since the agreement on the departure deal, anger on campus has continued to mount. Hundreds of students have sent an e-mail to members of Congress asking for oversight of a board they said engaged in reckless behavior that could cost students and faculty and staff members millions of dollars.

The Senate Finance Committee has asked for every document related to ousted American University president Benjamin Ladner's severance package and compensation and for the board's plans for an audit of all 11 years of his tenure.

In a four-page letter, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) asked for details on all no-bid contracts over $100,000, copies of all correspondence with the Internal Revenue Service for the past five years, biographies of each trustee and documentation of how the board made certain decisions.

AU is the first college to get an inquiry letter in an ongoing review of charities led by Grassley and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and it broadens the scope of the committee's oversight. "It appears the AU board could be a poster child for why review and reform are necessary," Grassley wrote in a letter yesterday to the acting AU board chairman, Thomas A. Gottschalk.