A Chronicle investigation of 618 private colleges found that one-fourth of them have financial ties with trustees' companies. Below are some examples of common business connections, based on disclosures that colleges made on their 2008 federal tax forms.
| College | Trustee, Company | Financial Tie with Company |
|---|---|---|
| Investments | ||
| Bowdoin College (PDF) | Sheldon M. Stone, a principal of Oaktree Capital Management | College invested with Oaktree |
| Brown U. (PDF) | Steven Rattner, a founding partner of the Quadrangle Group | University invested with Quadrangle |
| Colgate U. (PDF) | Unnamed trustees who are executives of financial firms | University had $11-million in investments with those firms |
| Doane College (PDF) | Earl L. Wright, CEO of AMG National Trust Bank | Received $188,696 for investment services |
| Duke U. (PDF) | Bruce A. Karsh, president and a co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management | University invested with Oaktree |
| Mount Union College (PDF) | Unnamed trustees who are executives of financial firms | College had $59-million in investments with those firms |
| Wilmington U. (Del.) (PDF) | David F. Marvin, chairman and portfolio manager of Marvin & Palmer Associates | Manages university's entire endowment |
| Trinity College (Conn.) (PDF) | Two trustees who are executives at financial firms | College had $69-million in investments with those firms |
| Construction and Architecture | ||
| Davidson College (PDF) | Patricia A. Rodgers, president and CEO of Rodgers Builders Inc. | Received $4.8-million; built $24-million Knobloch Campus Center |
| Husson U. (PDF) | John M. Rohman, a principal of WBRC Architects/Engineers | Received $743,619; designed; Donnell Commons |
| Lynchburg College (PDF) | Robert L. Flint, president of L.G. Flint Inc. (building contractor) | Received $429,970 |
| Mount Mary College (Wis.) (PDF) | Gary Jorgensen, a former principal and father of current executives of VJS Construction Services | Received $1.1-million in 2007; built $6.3-million Gerhardinger Hall |
| National U. (Calif.) (PDF) | Michael Wilkes, CEO of Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker (architects) | Received $370,633; designed academic-headquarters complex |
| St. Olaf College (PDF) | Thomas J. Boldt, CEO of the Boldt Company (building contractors) | Received $39.7-million; built $65-million Science Center |
| Vanderbilt U. (PDF) | L. Hall Hardaway Jr., owner, Hardaway Construction Corp. | Received $7-million in 2007; built $23-million School of Engineering complex |
| Various Potential Conflicts | ||
| Bucknell U. (PDF) | Glenn D. Steele Jr., president and CEO of Geisinger Health System | Received $2.7-million |
| Johnson & Wales U. (PDF) | Dana H. Gaebe, senior partner in Gaebe & Kezirian (law firm) | Received $148,313 |
| Point Park U. (PDF) | Michael J. Brunner, CEO of M.J. Brunner Inc. (advertising agency) | Received $162,393 in 2007 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology (PDF) | Elizabeth D. Moore, partner in Nixon Peabody LLP (law firm) | Received $517,678 |
| Texas Christian U. (PDF) | Robert J. Wright, owner of Business Jet Center | Received $71,045 |
| U. of Evansville (PDF) | Niel C. Ellerbrook, chairman and CEO of Vectren Corporation (energy services) | Received $1.6-million |
| Wartburg College (PDF) | Fred W. Hagemann, president and CEO of State Bank & Trust | Managed college's investments while college's president was on bank's Board of Directors |
| A Snapshot: Hope College, in Michigan, does business with companies affiliated with several trustees (PDF) | ||
| James E. Hanson II, president and CEO of the Hampshire Companies | Managed $5.6-million of college's real-estate investments | |
| Theodore S. Etheridge III, CEO of Steketee-Van Huis Inc. and the Printery | Received $400,763 for printing of brochures, publications, etc. | |
| Richard L. Postma, owner and chairman of RT London | Revised $119,442 for furniture sales | |
| Emilie D. Wierda, co-owner of Crown Motors | Received $38,859 for vehicles and service supplies | |
| Joel G. Bouwens, partner at Cunningham Dalman | Revised $3,540 for legal services | |
| Source: 2007-8 IRS form 990 tax filings; Chronicle reporting. | ||
Comments
1. hms3683 - March 15, 2010 at 10:18 am
We see an iceberg's top here because of the tendency to pack boards of trustees with those who have been dubbed society's winners. There is very little tendency to actually bring educators to the positions that govern educational institutions. Presuming that the highest dollar amount of each of these is pure graft, the whole total represents around $270 million. Daily losses of the business community on Wall street dwarf this figure. Of course the actual amount that might have been lost in all this would be a lot less because the buildings are built, the vehicles are delivered, the investment portfolios still contain items of value. Could competitive bidding produced better results cheaper? Probably! Was competitive bidding bypassed? We don't know this from a chart! Ought the business firms of trustees be barred from bidding on and winning campus projects? If so, why? Do firms who have trustees have an advantage? Yes: It's that they learn about upcoming projects earlier than those firms without trustees.
Could we do better in the choice of trustees by dropping the presumption that business success is the chief qualifier for this service? The result might be that colleges would run a little less like businesses.