Dependable Erection

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Duke's Board of Trustees: We don't know anybody who lives in Durham

Fifteen months ago, i wrote about why Duke University president Richard Brodhead pissed me off in his handling of the lacrosse case.

What set me off was Brodhead's casual inclusion of himself as one of "Durham's leaders," along with Mayor Bill Bell and then NCCU Chancellor James Ammons.

See, Duke's president serves at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees of the University. Of the 37 members of the board last year, precisely 2 were Durham residents, and one of those was Brodhead himself. So any claim by Brodhead to be a "Durham leader" is specious.

Duke recently named seven new trustees, none of whom are Durham residents, although one is supposedly from Chapel Hill. The Duke Board of Trustees page, which claims to present the 2007-2008 board, only lists a few of these seven new names, however, and does not list the Chapel Hill resident as a board member yet.

Regardless, the new Board does not include a single Durham resident aside from Dick Brodhead.

I don't know if Duke's by-laws require that all trustees be Duke grads, but even if they do, there are many dozens of qualified people living in town that Duke could have chosen for this important position. Surely one of them would have accepted a seat on the Board.

Next time Dick Brodhead tries to make the claim that he's a leader of Durham, ask him why he hasn't been able to find a single Durham resident to serve on his board. Ask him how hard he's looked.

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posted by Barry at 9:11 AM Digg this

22 Comments:

  • I'm curious if the lack of non-local trustees is similar at other similar universities (such as Dick's former stomping grounds at Yale). Perhaps I'll do such research later or someone else will. My guess is that this is not situation unique to Duke, but it's still troubling.

    By Blogger toastie, at 11:00 AM  

  • When i wrote my post last year, the percentage of NCCU trustees who were Durham residents was about 50%.

    By Blogger Barry, at 11:05 AM  

  • "supposedly" is kind of a weasel word with respect to the trustee residences. Mr. Abram has lived in Chapel Hill for a very long time.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:52 AM  

  • thanks for the info. Supposedly was more in reference to the appearance of Mr. Abram's name in the news story, but not on the Duke U. Board of Trustees page. So we don't know for sure that hhe is a member of the board.

    By the way, what part of Durham is Chapel Hill in?

    By Blogger Barry, at 12:06 PM  

  • No doubt, Dick Brodhead has influence in the nomination (and later selection) of some trustees, but I don't know how much, exactly. Like Toastie, I'm disturbed at the lack of local presence on the board of Durham's biggest employer. I DO think that Dick Brodhead is a Durham leader -- by virtue of his function and power, if not his intention or method-of-ascendance.

    Below, the Duke Bylaws on nomination and elections of trustees (can you tell I'm avoiding other tasks right now?). Interesting and very surprising to see that two thirds of the nominees are to be provided by the Methodist Church in North Carolina. It's quite possible that they delegate these duties to other Duke people more interested/knowledgeable, but the Methodists to have a hand on the process.

    "Nomination and Elections. The thirty-six elected Trustees shall be elected as follows: twelve by the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church; twelve by the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church; and twelve by the graduates of Duke University. Any student, faculty member, alumnus, Trustee, or other friend of the University may offer candidates for consideration. A roster of such candidates shall be kept in the office of the University Secretary, and it shall be reviewed whenever vacancies are expected to occur. The Executive Committee shall then make its recommendations to the Board of Trustees, and the Board, after hearing the recommendations of the Executive Committee, and by a majority of the Trustees present at any regular meeting, shall nominate the persons to be elected Trustees and submit its nominations to the appropriate conference of the United Methodist Church and the graduates."

    Full bylaws here:
    http://www.duke.edu/web/ous/bylaws00.htm

    By Blogger Marsosudiro, at 12:09 PM  

  • p.s. I just took a quick look Brown University board of 42 trustees/fellows. They don't show residences on the list, but I know at least three are Providence residents (just from knowing them). I suspect there are at least several more.

    A shockingly large number are from New York City.

    By Blogger Marsosudiro, at 12:13 PM  

  • Oh, and check out the Shaw University board of trustees. There are many from Raleigh. My favorite is from Georgia: "Dr. Evander Holyfield, Professional Boxer." Assuming that's an honorary ("ad eundem" for those who like the Latin), I'd recommend they list him as "Mr.", but that's just me. I worked for a company whose president/founder was listed as "Dr" in all its public documents after he received an honorary. So frickin' annoying.

    By Blogger Marsosudiro, at 12:19 PM  

  • Phil - thanks for digging that up. So a Duke trustee need not be a graduate of Duke. That expands the universe of potential trustees who are also Durham residents enormously, and makes the lack of a single Durham resident outside of Dick Brodhead even more glaring.

    I disagree with your assessment of Brodhead as a Durham leader. His posiiton gives him the potential to be a leader in Durham. He has not, to my mind, taken advantage of that position to actually be a leader. Pushing for a couple of Durham residents to serve on the Board of Trustees is a small, mostly symbolic step that has some real-world significance.

    By Blogger Barry, at 12:28 PM  

  • Stanford's Board of Trustees includes three people listed as being in Palo Alto, with another six who live on the peninsula.

    The University of Cincinnati doesn't list the cities of residence of its trustees, but from their bios, it's clear that most if not all of them live in Cincinnati or its suburbs, and have strong ties to the community.

    Similarly, many of Purdue University's trustees have a background that ties them to Indiana.

    Both Cincinnati and Purdue have much smaller BoT's than Duke, by the way.

    By Blogger Barry, at 12:49 PM  

  • Barry,

    I'm having a hard time getting upset about any of this. Brodhead calling himself a "Durham leader" doesn't bug me in the least -- he's the head of the city (and the region's) largest private employer. That, absent anything else, would seem to me to qualify. (Jim Goodman can easily call himself a "Durham leader," but I'd be surprised if there's any Durham residents on the Capital Broadcasting board, and Goodman probably doesn't even live here.)

    Comparing Duke to NCCU is a bit silly, too, I'd say. NCCU is a regional public university, Duke is a national private university. I'd say UNC is a better comparison -- they've only got one board member other than the student rep from Chapel Hill. One even lives out of state. And I'd say that both Purdue and UC are more regional private Universities. Looking at Stanford's board, only three are in either Stanford or Palo Alto. (More are in San Jose, but that's a city that's over four times as big as Durham. And if you're including those, you might as well include Chapel Hill, which is most definitely part of the Durham MSA.)

    Even beyond that, given what the role of the trustees is, I don't see why their residency should matter that much. They show up four times a year for meetings, and largely just look at finances and stuff. Brodhead and his cabinet are the important ones to look at -- they have far more influence than the largely hands-off trustees.

    Honestly, I don't care where Duke leaders are from. I just want them to engage in dialog with Durham in making their decisions.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 1:49 PM  


  • Honestly, I don't care where Duke leaders are from. I just want them to engage in dialog with Durham in making their decisions.

    I suspect that if Brodhead were looking to Durham for at least a couple of his trustees, he'd have an easier time of engaging in dialog with the city. Not saying there's a causal relationship there, however.

    The specific quote from last year that set me off was Brodhead thanking "other Durham leaders" like Bill Bell and James Ammons for for their work in calming tensions after the lacrosse case broke.

    Simply put, Brodhead lacks any standing to the claim of a Durham leader. And comparing him to say, Jim Goodmon, who's
    at least built businesses and invested in the town is also a poor comparison. Brodhead's only been here a couple of years. He hasn't built anything in his short time here. His position gives him the ability to lead. That doesn't mean he's used it.

    i wasn't citing Stanford (or any other University actually) as some sort of gold standard for Duke to aspire to. I suspect town/gown relations in Palo Alto are significantly different than in Durham. I think part of the reason why they suck in Durham is expresed by Duke's apparent unwillingness to invite Durham residents, some significant fraction of whom have University ties as alumni, faculty or former faculty, etc., onto its Board of Trustees. Which is large enough to accomodate a community member or two.

    i also think that the Purdue community might disagree with your assessment. Especially the women's basketball team.

    By Blogger Barry, at 2:12 PM  

  • Barry,

    Where are you getting that Brodhead picks the BoT? That would be a highly unusual relationship. The BoT is most definitely his superior, and while I'm sure he can do some lobbying, he most definitely does not go out and pick them.

    But fundamentally, our disagreement is this: you argue that the Trustees have some role to play in mediating the relationship between college and community. I say that's hogwash. I can pretty much guarantee you that there's no member of my alma mater, Carleton College's Board that lives in Northfield. I can't find a list, but I'm willing to bet no trustee of NCSSM lives in Durham either. Only two of NCSU's live in Raleigh. Quite simply, it's just not their job. In fact, I'd say Brodhead would have a pretty big complaint if Board members started mucking around in Durham/Duke relations.

    I'm still not sure what your complaints about Brodhead are, but as far as Durham relationships go, he's been one hell of a lot better than Keohane.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 2:40 PM  

  • Well, I take that back. I found the NCSSM list, and while it doesn't list their residencies, Mike Pickett is on the board, whom I worked with at Duke.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 2:43 PM  

  • FYI - 3 of Yale's 16 "fellows" (they don't have a "Board of Trustees") reside in Connecticut.

    It's certainly not a big deal that most Duke trustees don't live near Duke. But within a pool of 37, I'd think there'd be some effort to put three or four Triangle-based persons on the board.

    Then again, the people of North Carolina don't seem to care that Senator Elizabeth Dole hasn't lived in North Carolina in, what, 45 years?

    Yeah, that's a giant tangent, but my point is that it's hard to imagine a Board of Trustees that can act in Duke's best interests when that entails some degree of partnership with Durham, from which most trustees seem estranged.

    By Blogger toastie, at 3:04 PM  

  • Read Phil's description above of how the trustees are selected.

    Based on the few of boards of directors on which i've served (admittedly, none as high falutin' as Duke U!), and from what other people i know who serve on similar boards tell me, there's ample room for Brodhead to have a strong influence over which of the nominees gets sent up to the final electors with a strong vote of confidence from the board.

    But that wasn't my original point, if you go back to the blog post from last year.

    When Brodhead claimed to be a Durham leader, on a par with the Mayor and the Chancellor of NC Central, he opened to door to questioning his bona fides for making such a claim.

    Mayor Bell can be said to be a Durham leader because he's been elected 3 times by the Durham voters. Ammons had a claim to Durham leadership (and i can't say that he ever made the claim, but Brodhead made it for him) because the Board of Trustees to which he answered was about half composed of Durham residents. Only one member of the Board of Trustees at Duke at the time Brodhead was hired was a resident of Durham. Brodhead's claim to be a "Durham leader" in my mind, has no validity therefore.

    Now, since he is in the position of President of Duke University, he could, if he chose, address the lack of Durham representation on the Duke Board of Trustees, and by doing so, stake a more legitmate claim to being a "Durham leader."

    But right now, Brodhead is President of a university which includes no members of the community on the Board of Trustees to which he reports. That gives him in my mind zero credibility to claim equal status as a Durham leader with the Mayor.

    By Blogger Barry, at 3:06 PM  

  • Duke has been associated with the Methodist church in some fashion since its inception qua Duke, so I'm not surprised to see that they have a hand in picking trustees. I just cynically assumed that the other 12 trustees (with the exception perhaps of the student trustee) were picked according to whether they could donate money to the University. I bet the further up the food chain (so to speak) you go, the more likely the trustees will be non-local. And the student body is essentially pulled nationally anyway, so it does seem more likely that Duke would be pulling in trustees nationally (than, say, NCCU, or even Carolina [which is putatively a state-oriented university like Central]).

    As for what Brodhead calls himself, I really don't care. :) But maybe after he lives here a bit longer, he'll get a little better. Or maybe not: I don't really know how much Keohane was really involved in the local scene, but it seemed not much, and she wasn't from around here either. Brodie was kinda home-grown and kinda not. We're not likely to get another Terry Sanford (who, BTW, was a Carolina grad) anytime soon. I think Knight was president before Sanford, but I don't know jill about him.

    Why do I let myself be drawn into discussions I don't really know squat about? :)

    By Blogger Joseph H. Vilas, at 3:27 PM  

  • Why do I let myself be drawn into discussions I don't really know squat about? :)

    It's never stopped me before!

    By Blogger Barry, at 3:29 PM  

  • With the lovely response of "Durham's Leaders" to this whole thing, who would you recommend that lives in Durham and has any legitimacy serving on the board as both a Durham Leader and Duke Trustee?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:04 PM  

  • Jack Preiss comes to mind, but he's getting up in years.

    John Schelp would be a good choice from my perspective, as would Larry Holt, Melvin Whitley, Ellen Dagenhart or Newman Aguilar. Hell, even Thomas Stith could bring something to the table for Duke/Durham relations.

    The point is there's a wide array of great Durham community people to choose from, if having good town/gown relations is important to Duke. Most of them are probably under the radar. A university as "important" as Duke should be able to find them.

    By Blogger Barry, at 11:00 PM  

  • The same John Schelp that Rev. Curtis Gatewood called a star? With supporters like that, no thanks.

    When a defense team has to write a motion to move a trial involving Duke students out of the county to get justice, maybe it makes sense that very few in that county sit on the school's board.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:49 AM  

  • Your agenda is showing.

    Obviously, improving relations between Duke and Durham is not a part of it.

    By Blogger Barry, at 11:29 AM  

  • http://www.dukechronicle.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=741311a4-d2e1-4214-981d-c3bc7f80409c

    Posted: 5/17/07
    President Richard Brodhead announced May 1 the appointment of Phail Wynn, outgoing Durham Technicial Community College president, to a newly created position that will oversee Duke-Durham relations.

    As vice president for Durham and regional affairs, Wynn's planned role in the administration will include overseeing all community-related aspects of public relations-a responsibility currently handled by John Burness, vice president for public affairs and government relations.

    Wynn will step into the position following his Dec. 31 retirement from Durham Tech-where he has served as president since 1980.

    The decision to separate public relations efforts into two distinctive spheres will allow the University to better reach out to both the local and national communities, Brodhead wrote in an e-mail.

    "Through time, [Burness'] job has become simply bigger than one person can do," he said. "The Phail Wynn appointment gives us the means to concentrate more energy on Durham and regional affairs while leaving John Burness free to concentrate on communications issues."

    Wynn said in a statement that the new position will allow him to bring to Duke the passion for education and community interaction that he developed at Durham Tech.

    "My 30 years at Durham Tech have allowed me to focus on areas that I care passionately about; education and training and economic development and community development," Wynn said. "This new opportunity will allow me to continue this professional focus through assisting Duke University in its ongoing efforts to be an advocate and partner for economic and community development in Durham and the region."

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:04 PM  

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