An amendment that proposes expanding and adjusting the University’s board of trustees will be the first item on voters' ballots Nov. 8.
If passed, it will add two at-large members to the board.
The amendment will create "the opportunity for more in the Auburn family with different backgrounds to serve as trustees," wrote Charles McCrary, Board of Trustees president pro tempore, and Beau Byrd, Alumni Association board of directors president, in a joint letter to AL.com.
The amendment "points us toward a better reflection of the students and state we serve," McCrary and Byrd wrote.
The 14-member board is made up of trustees from Alabama’s congressional districts as they were in 1961 with one trustee from Lee County, three at-large trustees and the governor, who serves as a non-voting member.
Twelve of the 14 members are white men - Sarah B. Newton and Elizabeth Huntley are the only women who hold positions on the board. Huntley, a civil litigation attorney with Lightfoot, Franklin & White in Birmingham, is the only person of color.
"By adding two at-large seats, it would allow more members of the Auburn family with different experiences and perspectives to serve," said Brian Keeter, director of public affairs for the University, in an email to The Plainsman.
The amendment will also prevent more than three trustees’ terms from expiring in the same year.
Nine of the 14 trustees' terms expire in 2019, Keeter said.
"The State Constitution spells out the way in which Trustees are selected," Keeter said. "A five-person committee reviews nominees and makes an appointment. The committee is comprised of the Governor or the Governor’s designee, two current members of the Auburn Board and two members of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. Appointments from the committee must be confirmed by the State Senate.
In previous years, the State Senate hasn’t always confirmed Trustee appointments when the vacancy occurred. As a result, terms for nine of the 14 Trustees will expire in 2019. If the constitutional amendment passes, no more than three trustee terms would expire in a calendar year, which ensures continuity in governance."
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