Exercising his new authority from a last-minute change to the state budget, Braun replaced the three elected IU trustees this week. (Brandon Smith, Indiana Public Broadcasting)
Gov. Mike Braun talked to reporters Tuesday about his sudden replacement of three elected IU trustees. The former board members and their replacements also are speaking publicly about the move.
Exercising his new authority from a last-minute change to the state budget, Braun terminated the three elected IU trustees this week despite his recent assurances that he planned to let them serve until the end of their terms.
“It’s so close to that being the case anyway, and you can’t believe the number of individuals that came forward wanting to be considered in those slots,” he said. “So, with that kind of enthusiasm and the fact that it really didn’t make a lot of difference one way or the other, we made the decision to go ahead and do it.”
One of the former trustees, Vivian Winston, was a month away from finishing her term, but Donna Spears and Jill Maurer Burnett had one and two years, respectively, left in their terms.
In a statement to WFIU-WTIU, Winston criticized the board’s inaction after last year’s no-confidence vote regarding university president Pamela Whitten and described her concerns.
“The lack of a response to these events as well as frequent firings for trivial misdeeds have left a definite culture of fear among the faculty and staff,” she said.
She also shared her frustrations with the board’s governing processes.
“Not only has the Board not responded to any of these issues, but at the February 2025 meeting, (Whitten) received a five-year reappointment and a large salary increase. I had six-hour's notice that there would be a vote on this,” she said.
Winston thanked her supporters in the IU community. “I have high hopes for the new trustees and wish the administration and new board well,” she said.
Spears, who occasionally broke with the board majority on Whitten’s agenda, shared her hopes that alumni will step up engagement.
“Without the benefit of public discussion or debate, that tradition was voided in the recently concluded legislative session,” she said. “The unceremonious way in which I and other members were removed notwithstanding, the University is strong and vibrant and will continue to thrive.”
Braun also reappointed current board chair Quinn Buckner, despite the new law prohibiting trustees from serving more than three terms.
“It clearly said it’s not retroactive. So, the fact that he is a new appointee, that’s when it starts,” Braun said.
It is not clear in the law that it does not apply to sitting trustees.
Braun praised Buckner for being in line with Whitten’s leadership of the university, which he compared favorably to former Purdue president Mitch Daniels.
One of his appointees, conservative attorney James Bopp Jr., says he applied for the position but wasn’t expecting to start the job until July 1.
“Instead, I get a call from the governor's office that says, ‘Congratulations, it's effective today, and you have a meeting next week,’” Bopp said.
He has a high profile for championing conservative causes, including opposition to same sex marriage, skepticism of the 2020 election results and undoing limits on corporate political spending. Bopp made headlines in Indiana several years ago for saying a 10-year-old who received an abortion in Indiana should have brought her baby to term.
He suspected the urgency to fill the role may have something to do with Braun’s initiative to freeze tuition at IU. The trustees will vote on next year’s budget at their meeting next Thursday.
“I’m very supportive of that,” Bopp said. “I think IU needs to make a very serious effort to become more affordable for Indiana residents. And that’s not just freezing their tuition, but that’s reducing their tuition.”
IU is preparing to make up to $200 million in cuts to respond to the freeze and less funding from the state and federal government.
Bopp said, as an attorney who works with First Amendment cases, he’s concerned about issues that IU has had with free speech, referenced in a report by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression that says the university is a Top 10 offender for punishing speech.
He added that he wants to be better informed before commenting on individual cases.
“I'm not prejudging that,” Bopp said. “I'm just saying it's been raised by people on all sides of free speech issues, and it just needs to be carefully examined.”
