Good news AU: it doesn't look our new board of trustees chair is completely out of touch with the way boards are run. The new chairman, Gary Abramson, has signaled that he would like to include students and faculty on committees when the board is reformed. This is good news to a campus that has been promised reform and real change, but has historically been shut out of the process. Abramson seems to be serious about these proposals. We commend him for putting them on the table, and look forward to seeing him follow through.
Abramson however, is under more pressure to make good on his promises than any of his predecessors. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has started a probe into the board's handling of former president Benjamin Ladner's spending and his whopping severance package. All eyes will be on Abramson and his ability to bring the school back together as he leads the search for a new president. If he botches it, the U.S. Senate (and the media) will be watching. Though reforming AU's board will not necessarily be part of Grassley's larger effort to reform non-profit organizations nationwide, Abramson has quite a job to do.
