The three elected members of the Indiana University Board of Trustees have been removed by Gov. Mike Braun — roughly a month after indicating he wouldn’t. The governor instead on Monday tapped three new members — two notable conservatives — along with reappointing a sitting trustee.
“I am confident that these appointees, who are all Indiana University alumni, will serve in the best interest of the university and will help guide IU back in the right direction as a premier flagship university in our state,” Braun said in a statement.
The new members include Sage Steele, a sports anchor known for controversial comments on race and vaccines; James Bopp, Jr., an anti-abortion attorney; and Brian Eagle, an Indianapolis estate attorney.
Eagle will serve until 2027 while Steele and Bopp have terms that go until 2028.
Bopp held a high-ranking position on the nonprofit working alongside Braun’s campaign team. He also penned a letter warning about the “serious threat” now-Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith posed to Braun’s candidacy.
W. Quinn Buckner currently sits on the board as its chair and had his term extended by one year to 2026 by Braun.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue serving my alma mater, which has given me so much,” Buckner said in a statement from Indiana University. “As chair, I welcome my new colleagues to the board and am excited to collaborate as a team to continue propelling IU to new heights.”
A recent change to the law governing the board explicitly prohibits board members from serving a fourth term and Buckner has already served three. The Indiana Capital Chronicle sent a follow-up question to the governor’s office asking about the reasoning for extending Buckner’s role with the university.
The university also included a statement from IU President Pamela Whitten:
“I look forward to working with our new trustees, who join the board at a pivotal time of positive momentum for IU. Each has a deep love for IU and shares our vision for putting students first, advancing groundbreaking research and serving our state.”
Lawmakers slipped language in must-pass legislation at the eleventh hour of the legislative session with no public comment that gave Braun full control of the institution’s Board of Trustees. Every other public university gives alumni direct or indirect input into their oversight body, which sets tuition rates and controls campus projects and approves budgets.
Who left the board?
The profiles of the three members elected by alumni — Vivian Winston, Jill Maurer Burnett and Donna Spears — disappeared from IU’s Board of Trustees site and now appear as former members on another site.
Indiana Public Media confirmed the departure of Winston and Burnett, who each received one-sentence letters from Braun dated for May 31. Additionally, the story noted that Winston, a frequent critic of Whitten, had just one more board meeting before her term ended.
An IU alum planning to run for an open position filed a lawsuit last month, challenging the law for singling out only one public institution. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is representing the plaintiff.
At a press conference marking his first 100 days in office, a reporter directly asked if Braun would prematurely end the terms of the three members.
“No, I haven’t thought about anything other than … you can’t imagine the number of people that are interested in being a trustee at IU,” Braun said. “I don’t think their terms are that far away from expiring.”
He defended the change in law by saying that only 1.7% of alumni participated in the last round of voting — though a coalition of alumni renounced the move for eliminating their input.
He went on to criticize Indiana University, saying he wished it better aligned with “what (Purdue University) was doing.”
“(Purdue) is giving Hoosiers real value by keeping tuition and room and board to where you can afford it. And even though some of our other universities have done it, that’s the only place that initiated it, and that was done many years ago,” said Braun.
“… I think Indiana (University) needs to look at how they’re producing degrees that are more marketable, that they’re lined up with where the high-demand, high wages are in our own state economy, and start running (the school) in a way that’s more efficient,” he continued.
This article is republished as part of a collaborative content-sharing agreement between Ball State Unified Media and Indiana Capital Chronicle, established to expand access to high-quality journalism and to better inform and serve the public through trusted, in-depth reporting.
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