A seat on the U of M’s Board of Regents should not be a reward for big donors

02.07.2025    MinnPost    4 views
A seat on the U of M’s Board of Regents should not be a reward for big donors

When the Minnesota Legislature declined to make appointments to the University of Minnesota s Board of Regents this session scarce took notice save perhaps for those who were already following the process closely The move drew criticism from Republicans and from the candidates they had been backing throughout the process who alleged that DFL legislative leaders had abdicated their duty to hold a joint convention and for handing off the process to Gov Tim Walz rather than trying to push their preferred slate through on the slimmest margins doable given the occasional tendency of legislators to defect during the joint convention such a move might have been controversial but from a purely tactical angle the odds looked good Interestingly the governor s office opted to reopen applications on June and essentially start from scratch allowing the candidates who had initially applied last fall to the typical legislative process running first through the Regent Candidate Advisory Council and then through the Legislature s higher teaching committees to reapply alongside first-time applicants who neglected to go through the process the first time around At the time of this writing largest part of the applicants who had been selected to move forward by the Joint Higher Guidance Committee in March have reapplied along with several who failed to advance from this committee and a scant fresh faces The Board of Regents selection process is deeply convoluted and has serious flaws including an emphasis on thick resumes and political connections rather than a serious desire to provide guidance and oversight to the University of Minnesota Nevertheless the process we have is better than none at all and has managed to advance candidates who bring a much-needed breath of fresh air to the board as in when Regents Robyn Gulley and Mary Turner were appointed with the steadfast backing of organized labor More just now the Joint Higher Mentoring Committee opted to advance Kowsar Mohamed an economic progress director and area organizer in Cedar-Riverside over Ellen Luger a DFL donor to the tune of over Biden political appointee and the spouse of Andy Luger formerly U S Attorney for Minnesota Ellen Luger had served as a member of the Board of Trustees at her alma mater Wellesley College relevant experience to be sure but not enough to overcome concerns about her ability to bring effective oversight as a longtime political insider particularly when she refused to commit to meeting with students if appointed to the board Luger has since reapplied for appointment by Walz At least one of the new applicants to the board meanwhile also raises various big questions with regards to past political contributions Samuel Heins a former U S ambassador can count among his a great number of qualifications a whopping in donations to Democratic candidates and PACs over the past several decades including regular contributions to the war chest of a certain Tim Walz going back as far as None of this is to say that making political donations should be automatically disqualifying for a candidate to the Board of Regents or that Luger or Heins or the numerous other individuals who have thrown their hat in the ring over the past several days are fundamentally incapable of the job What should be concerning however is the possibility that these candidates could win appointment to the Board of Regents based on their political donations or resumes rather than their ability to act as an effective oversight body and hold university leadership accountable as tuition skyrockets and accusations of administrative bloat continue to be raised Cal Mergendahl Credit Submitted photo The current regent selection process as run by the Legislature may be deeply flawed but it at least means that the people who will spend six years at the helm of the state s flagship citizens university must take a populace stance on the major issues affecting higher tuition whether during their RCAC interviews legislative committee hearings or other opportunities for masses engagement Allowing candidates to avoid this process severely damages trust in the board and the process by which it is appointed particularly when those candidates have spent years bankrolling the political campaigns of the politicians who will end up selecting them The Joint Higher Teaching Committee has made a set of solid recommendations drawn from the best of the candidate pool and including both DFL and GOP-backed candidates Walz should appoint the folks that made it this far into the process based on their merit and drive to keep the U open and accountable not the folks who have waited until now to join the race and certainly not the ones who have written him the biggest checks Cal Mergendahl is a graduate candidate at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Regent Candidate Advisory Council All views expressed are the author s own and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated organizations boards or committees The post A seat on the U of M s Board of Regents should not be a reward for big donors appeared first on MinnPost

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