AU Debacle

A follow-up article in the Post about outgoing American University president Benjamin Ladner and whether or not the university should pay him up to $4 million dollars in severance or dismiss him for cause with nothing. This is the guy who, with his wife, spent lavishly on American University’s dime during his tenure as president of that university. For those of you unfamiliar with this story, while ago an anonymous letter was sent to the trustees questioning Ladner’s spending habits and thus, an audit was launched. You can only imagine the extent of the spending. As a result of the audit and its findings, the school board dismissed Ladner, but now they’re deciding what to do with him. AU is hemorrhaging trustees over this and frankly I don’t blame them. Students are up in arms because their tuition funded this lifestyle. Can’t say I blame them, especially since I’m currently paying an arm and a leg for tuition and it would incense me to know that the university president was living large while I was struggling to pay tuition. The worst part about this situation is that Ladner has this breathtaking sense of entitlement about past and potential funds and seems clueless about what all the fuss is about. I really think that university presidents should understand that they exist for students, not the other way around, huh?