ACLU of Indiana sues Gov. Braun over changes to how IU’s Board of Trustees are selected

INDIANAPOLIS (WNDU) - The ACLU of Indiana has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Mike Braun over a recently passed budget bill that changes how members of Indiana University’s Board of Trustees are selected.

According to our sister station WTHR, Indiana’s governor will now have total control over choosing the board’s nine members as part of House Enrolled Act 1001. Prior to the change in the law, IU alumni had the ability to elect three trustee members while the governor picked the other six.

The lawsuit, filed in Monroe Circuit Court, claims that these changes violate the Indiana Constitution because they are “special legislation.”

“The new provisions violate the prohibition on special legislation contained in the Indiana Constitution,” said ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk. “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.”

The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Justin Vasel, an IU alum who was a candidate for the IU board of trustees’ election, which was scheduled to begin June 1.

“When I decided to run for IU Trustee, I committed to defending the university’s interests and alumni representation. I never imagined my first act would be to defend the very existence of the position itself,” Vasel said. “Thousands of alumni are preparing to cast their votes in this election, as they have done for over 130 years. Their voices deserve to be heard and respected, not silenced through legislative maneuvering that our state constitution was designed to prevent.”

To read the full complaint, click here.