A Monroe County judge on Friday found that a law giving Gov. Mike Braun full control of Indiana University’s Board of Trustee membership is constitutional, ruling against a would-be candidate who alleged it was unjust special legislation.
State law has required three members to be alumni directly elected by other alumni since 1891 — a unique system among Indiana’s public universities — until House Enrolled Act 1001 took effect last May.
Amendments slipped into the biennial budget bill allow Braun to select all nine board members. Five must be IU alumni, but potential picks aren’t reviewed by the alumni association.
The powerful board is responsible for IU’s budget, tuition rates and academic programs.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed suit last May on behalf of alumnus Justin Vasel. He was one of six eligible nominees to fill an upcoming vacancy whose campaigns were cut short by the law.
The ACLU argued that alumni of other public schools — like Purdue University, Ball State University and Indiana State University — get more input because their alumni associations get to recommend several appointments to the governor.
Special Judge Erik Allen determined that Vasel suffered a direct injury and had legal standing to sue. But the plaintiff’s claim that IU alumni were “uniquely disenfranchised” is “not accurate,” Allen wrote in the decision.
Indiana’s Constitution requires that all laws be “general” and apply uniformly throughout the state, banning special legislation. But such a law can be justified because of a subject’s unique qualities.
“This requirement is a ‘low bar,'” the decision reads. “… If there is a ‘link between the class’s unique characteristics and the legislative fix,’ the law must stand.”
IU’s previously singular status as the only public university in Indiana where alumni directly elected some of their trustees is one factor listed.
Another is the school’s “creation as a unique entity.”
The judge counted out 11 instances that IU’s board — and only that one — has been modified in law since its 1820 creation.
“Even if HEA 1001 is special, it is justified by a unique characteristic of IU’s board,” the decision reads.
“Vasel’s other arguments concerning the need for accountability among public universities in general and at Indiana University in particular invite this Court to second-guess the General Assembly’s policy determinations,” Allen concluded. “This Court may not do so.”
He granted the state summary judgment, which can still be appealed.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.
