Editor’s note: This story has been updated since the print edition went to press.
The Boston University Board of Trustees will decide whether to stick with President-elect Daniel Goldin Friday with eight fewer members than it had when they selected him July 8, according to what The Daily Free Press learned Tuesday and The Boston Globe reported today.
According to what the Free Press learned Tuesday, five trustees’ terms were not renewed at the board’s monthly meeting Oct. 16, and two others Jeffrey Katzenberg, a principal partner of DreamWorks SKG, and former board Vice Chairman David D’Alessandro, chief executive of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. have resigned from the board since the Trustees unanimously selected Goldin to be BU’s ninth president.
1970 School of Management graduate Kenneth Feld, chief executive of Ringling Bros. and Barnum ‘ Bailey Circus’s parent company, also resigned last week, according to today’s Globe.
The five trustees dropped from the board at the October meeting are advertising executive Frederick Bertino, former PictureTel CEO Norman Gaut, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik B. al-Hariri the namesake of the School of Management Building daughter of a former president Luci Baines Johnson and longtime Trustee Laura Freeman Walsh.
A list of trustees obtained Tuesday that reflects these expired terms and D’Alessandro’s resignation in late July includes 44 members of the board. Accounting for Feld and Katzenberg’s resignations last week, a maximum of 42 trustees will decide Goldin’s fate on Friday.
Johnson and Walsh are now both trustees emeritus, ending their active duties with the body.
When reached at home Tuesday, Gaut confirmed that his appointment was not renewed at the October meeting and said his leaving the board had nothing to do with Goldin. Three others not renewed at the meeting did not return calls Tuesday and al-Hariri could not be reached for comment.
One trustee, who wished to remain anonymous, said changes to the board at this time of year are common, as terms often expire in October and new members are often added in January. The trustee also said Goldin did not influence the changes to the board, and the alterations should have a minimal effect on any votes at Friday’s emergency meeting.
BU officials Tuesday night released their first statement on the Goldin situation since news of the Trustees’ meeting and the board’s Executive Committee’s ‘vote of no confidence’ in Goldin were first reported Saturday.
The statement, which was scheduled be released on BU’s homepage this morning as an open letter to the BU community, says the university is going through ‘a number of unique challenges at the moment’ and predicts some of the ‘key issues should be resolved’ at the Friday meeting.
But it also says the board will offer few answers at this point, a fact that many faculty and students have complained about since Saturday.
‘Until [Friday], there is very little information that can be shared, even with you as members of the BU community who are most affected,’ the letter reads. ‘There are legal and protocol considerations which must be taken into account. Nothing can be decided, and therefore announced, until the board deliberates and votes on various matters.’
BU spokesman Colin Riley said the letter was written ‘to address inquiries on the matter,’ which have come from ‘all constituencies’ at the university.
Most trustees either refused to comment on the situation or did not return repeated phone calls to their offices and homes Tuesday. Trustee Melvin B. Miller would not comment, and added, ‘This conversation never happened.’
Former board Chairman and current Trustee Earle C. Cooley defended the board’s official silence.
‘As a matter of policy, the Board of Trustees ought to operate and keep its own counsel until such time as there is some final picture,’ Cooley said.
Most BU administrators were equally mum on the subject Tuesday, as Executive Vice President Joseph Mercurio, Provost Dennis Berkey and several deans refused comment. Those who did comment said they are hoping for the best, but are waiting until Friday to draw conclusions.
‘Since the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees has not shared the specifics of their concerns about Mr. Goldin with the university community, we can only speculate about the issues that the full board will reportedly address Friday,’ College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jeffrey Henderson said in an email. ‘How the Trustees defend their judgment will determine what effect the outcome will have on the university’s morale and reputation.’
School of Hospitality Administration Dean James Stamas said he hopes the university can move forward once the Trustees’ decision becomes public.
‘Nobody would have this for anybody, and I just hope they work it out so we can move on,’ Stamas said.
‘I know it’s an important issue to resolve, and I hope the Trustees will do the right thing,’ Stamas added later.
One trustee said the week’s events have already negatively affected BU.
‘I don’t think it’s good for the university,’ the trustee said. ‘I think it’s never good when there is conflict just in general.’
Staff writers Dan Atkinson, Allison Brown, Kate Davidson, Patrick Gillooly, Jessica Warren and Bill Yelenak contributed to this report.