The Indiana University Board of Trustees meeting June 12, 2025, in the Henke Hall of Champions. (Ethan Sandweiss, WFIU/WTIU News)
Less than four months after giving Indiana University president Pamela Whitten a $200,000 raise, the university's board of trustees on Thursday approved a $225,000 bonus for her.
Trustee Cathy Langham said the bonus is an acknowledgement of her accomplishments in a successful year.
Student trustee Kyle Siebert was the lone vote against the bonus.
"We're facing significant financial challenges and cut benefits for employees," Siebert said. "We're asking them to make sacrifices. For that reason, I oppose."
In February, the trustees increased Whitten's salary to $900,000.
The trustees earlier passed a budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which starts July 1, with $100 million in cuts from the current budget.
The state cut IU's funding by $60 million for the upcoming fiscal year.
Change to 'expressive activity' policy approved
The board unanimously approved amendments to the school’s "expressive activity policy" but did not explain the changes during discussion.
IU spokesperson Mark Bode said the amendments to the policy wouldn't be released to the public until after the meeting.
Later in the meeting, new trustee James Bopp Jr. criticized the board for not sharing the proposals publicly before the trustees voted.
"The proposals that were brought to the trustees should be made public" before the meeting, Bopp said. "I'm a little surprised that's not the case, and I think the results would be much better."
The IU Expressive Activity Policy webpage has been changed to remove time restrictions and language about pre-approval to distribute literature.
According to IU’s general counsel, the policy amendments incorporate feedback from university community members and the judge overseeing the ACLU of Indiana’s lawsuit against the university. The ACLU claims the ban on overnight expressive activity policy was “substantially overbroad.”
Bopp Jr. agreed, saying free debate is “the most critical part of creating the kinds of citizens we want to see.”
Bopp acknowledged Dunn Meadow, site of the pro-Palestine campus protests last year, has long been a site of student expression and protest. Bopp said he himself protested at Dunn Meadow when he was a student.
He said the policy amendments achieve the goal of recognizing the full right to engage in free speech activity but not the disruption of IU activity.
Trustees pass productivity standards for faculty
The trustees approved new “productivity” standards for faculty to keep their jobs. But they didn’t discuss what those standards will be before they voted. Hours after the vote, the standards were posted online. The changes are meant to comply with a recently-passed state law.
Langham said, “Several of the revisions represent 'stop gap measures' considering the July 1 start date (for the new law). Further revisions will be considered.”
One of the last-minute changes to higher education put into the state budget bill requires universities to set minimum teaching and research requirements.
The trustees also voted to change language in over 20 policies related to responsible administrator roles.
The statehouse made other major restrictions to tenure last year that opened the door for professors to lose their positions over complaints that they don’t promote multiple viewpoints in the classroom.
The Board of Trustees votes to indemnify Brad Bomba Jr., a former IU athletics physician who was accused of giving inappropriate prostate exams to players.
— Ethan Sandweiss (@the_real_sand) June 12, 2025
General counsel Anthony Prather cites this study commissioned by IU @WFIUWTIUNews https://t.co/ubuVuFaAoN
Two-year in-state tuition freeze recommended
IU chief financial officer Jason Dudich presented Whitten’s recommendations for a two-year tuition freeze for in-state students.
Despite cuts from the state totaling about $60 million over the next two years, he said IU wants to continue making investments in initiatives and programs that are supportive of the strategic plan, IU 2030.
Student tuition and fees provided about one-third of IU’s income for the 2024 fiscal year, while state appropriations comprised around 15 percent.
Bopp Jr. asked Dudich whether IU has the flexibility to eventually reduce tuition.
“I would say yes,” Dudich said.
New trustees sworn in
At the start of the afternoon, the trustees swore in its three newest members, Bopp Jr., Sage Steele and Brian Eagle.
Bopp is a prominent conservative activist and attorney who notably represented Citizens United in a landmark case that opened the door for corporate political spending.
Steele anchored on ESPN from 2007 until 2023. She was disciplined for criticizing the company’s COVID-19 vaccine policy. Brian Eagle is an Indianapolis-based attorney.
Governor Mike Braun appointed all three to the board last week after removing the board’s alumni-elected trustees, Vivian Winston, Donna Spears and Jill Maurer Burnett.
The trustees held closed door executive sessions starting at 9:00, citing exceptions to the Indiana open door law.
So far, only three people holding signs have stood during today’s trustee meeting. There’s still a few hours to go.@WFIUWTIUNews https://t.co/RDu8UTgw7Y pic.twitter.com/tuTNBxggXl
— Donnie Burgess (@localguydonnie) June 12, 2025
