Earlier this week, students and faculty at American University called for the swift resignation of University President Benjamin Ladner. Both the student government and the faculty senate should be commended for demanding accountability from their embattled President. If Ladner does not resign, he should be fired and denied his plush severance package, which would allot him nearly $1 million in direct compensation and a tenured position on the AU faculty.
Ladner’s troubles began in March when the trustees of AU received an anonymous letter accusing him of misappropriating University funds. In the extensive investigations that followed, it became clear that Ladner had abused his post and swindled AU students, faculty and staff.
Among other things, Ladner used University money to fund a lavish trip to Nigeria (the airfare alone cost $22,000), a tour of Europe for his personal chef and a 13-course engagement party for his son, according to the Washington Post. Ladner has vehemently defended himself by telling the Post that he merely “did not immediately reimburse” the school for these expenses.
Ladner has obviously betrayed the trust of the university and he should be relieved of his position. While Ladner was gallavanting through Nigeria, parents were struggling to make payments on tuition bills and alumni were struggling to pay off student loans. If nothing else, his monstrous misuse of funds is a slap in the face to everyone who pays tuition or donates to the annual fund at American.
Unfortunately, a 1997 amendment to his contract could allow for nearly $1 million in severance pay and a tenured position on the AU faculty upon his resignation. After taking helpless students for a wild and reckless ride, he should not be handed a golden parachute.
Last Thursday, about 500 students marched to call for Ladner’s resignation. The day before, faculty at five of American’s six schools gave him a vote of no confidence. If Ladner receives his severance package as planned, the trustees of American University will have disenfranchised both groups. The administration will have sent a message of cronyism and weakness to the public and to alumni, upon whom they depend for donations.
To be the president of a major research university comes with a lot of perks, many of which are financial. These perks should not allow the president to live like a king while students and parents struggle to pick up the tab.
