November 21, 2008

Presidential Salaries and Public Scrutiny: What's Fair?

By SANFORD J. UNGAR

I remember the moment well. In the spring of 2001, just after I was named president of a liberal-arts college, my son, Philip, then still in high school, was asked a difficult question by one of his friends: "What do college presidents do, anyway?" Philip, who has always been given to a certain degree of irreverence, pondered the issue for a moment and replied confidently, "Not much. They give speeches and eat free meals."

I happened to be within earshot at the time and attempted to

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