The AU board of trustees is reportedly wrapping up its six-month investigation of President Benjamin Ladner's alleged misuse of more than $500,000 of student money, and the FBI is beginning its own investigation of our esteemed president.ÿ The verdict on Ladner is far from in, but it is overwhelmingly clear that 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.
Speaking out on the controversy for the first time in an interview with the Eagle this week, Ladner said that he admits that resignation would be appropriate if the board finds he indeed misused the funds, but maintains he did not.ÿ He argued that the kind of spending the board - and much of the AU student population - finds questionable are merely part of his job to wine and dine wealthy donors. So where, Mr. President, does your son's engagement party fall?
Ladner said he cut the board a $21,000 reimbursement check for spending that, in retrospect, he deemed to be inappropriate- engagement party included.ÿ This is hardly a fraction of the total amount of questionable spending. Furthermore, Ladner's insistence that his lavish layovers while traveling abroad on behalf of the university and the mind-boggling pay increases for his personal chef are justifiable demonstrates how out of touch he has become with the priorities of his position. Perhaps its possible that his sense of entitlement runs so deep that he doesn't actually have any idea that what he has done wrong.
While it would be better to not have to put the school in transition mode and deal with questions that arise when looking for a new president, the truth is that this situation has gone from bad to worse. Something has to be done. The fault, in this regard, does not fall entirely on Ladner. 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.ÿ 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. A small reimbursement check, while maybe a nice gesture, does not make up for the fact that he is the kind of person who spends university funds freely; mostly it's an acknowledgement that he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
