Higher Ed Leaders Call for Defense of Board Independence

More than 200 college and university presidents, board chairs, sector association leaders, and heads of accrediting agencies have called on higher education leadership to uphold the independence of governing boards and institutional autonomy. 

In a letter released May 1, the coalition, representing more than 120 institutions, foundations and accrediting agencies, said the independence of governing boards is under growing threat from political pressures. 

Those include “funding tied to ideological compliance and attempts to control core institutional decisions regarding admissions, hiring and mission execution,” the letter said. 

American higher education leaders, advocates and stakeholders must stand together to “defend the autonomy of college and university governing boards as a cornerstone of constitutional freedoms; and reject political interference that undermines academic excellence and fiduciary stewardship,” the group said. 

They also called for leaders to reaffirm the principles of institutional autonomy laid out in the 1819 Supreme Court decision Dartmouth College v. Woodward, which established safeguards to protect colleges from ideological and political interference. 

The chairs of the boards of trustees at Clark Atlanta University, Eastern Michigan University and the University of Illinois are among the signatories, as well as the heads of the Middle States and New England Commissions of Higher Education.  

“This initiative is not about partisanship, it’s about principle,” said Ross Mugler, board chair and acting president and CEO of the Association of Governing Boards, the group leading the effort. “Institutional autonomy is essential to academic freedom, civic leadership, and innovation and is upheld by independent board governance. AGB is proud to lead this effort to reaffirm our shared responsibility to safeguard governance from politicization.”

Lawmakers in several states have introduced legislation that seeks to increase board oversight in processes like academic programming and tenure, as well as a governor’s ability to appoint board members.