Gov Mike Braun signed Indiana's budget into law on May 6. The budget gives Braun full control over Indiana University's Board of Trustee seats.
(Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
An Indiana University Board of Trustee candidate sued Gov. Mike Braun over late changes to the state budget that gave him full control over trustee seats.
After signing Indiana’s budget into law, Braun can remove trustees elected by IU alumni and appoint their replacements at any time. Alumni used to elect three of the nine IU trustees, but the university confirmed the upcoming Board of Trustees election is cancelled.
Justin Vasel and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued Braun in Monroe County Circuit Court on Wednesday. Vasel, an IU alumnus and trustee candidate, said the legislation clearly targets IU, which violates Indiana’s constitution.
“I don't see that there's any particular reason why IU should be treated differently than any of the other universities in this legislation,” Vasel said. “I think it's just the right thing to do. It's a constitutional violation.”
Braun’s press secretary didn’t respond to requests for comment.
ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk said the changes violate the prohibition on special legislation.
“Every other four-year public university in the state has a process for allowing alumni to select at least some members of the board of trustees, and there is no justification for denying that ability to the alumni of IU,” Falk said.
Alumni gained the right to elect trustees in 1891. The IU Alumni Association had intended to host an election starting June 1. Vasel’s legal counsel asked for the election to proceed as planned.
Vasel and five other candidates were supposed to run for one open trustee seat.
“Even if I weren't running in this election, it's something that I would be really deeply concerned about — the fact that this passed with no public input, with no warning, and that it's thrown all this confusion into an election cycle that's already well underway,” Vasel said.
The lawsuit said, “The change to the manner in which Indiana University’s Board of Trustees is selected did not follow the normal legislative process: no hearings were held concerning the proposal but instead the change was inserted at the eleventh hour deep within a lengthy budget bill that otherwise would have nothing to do with the election of members of the boards of trustees of Indiana’s higher education institutions.”.
While the ACLU and Vasel wait for the case to proceed, Vasel said he’s not stopping his campaign.
“I'm not going to slow down,” Vasel said. “I'm not going to wait to see what happens next. I'm going to continue full speed ahead with the campaign, fighting for IU.”
