New Jersey State Senate President Steve Sweeney insists that scrapping Rutgers’ board of trustees would bolster the independence of the state university, including its Camden campus. “It’s an antiquated system of governance,” the Gloucester County Democrat told me Wednesday, suggesting the current structure – Rutgers has separate boards of trustees and governors – is a relic of history.
“Just because something’s been around for 250 years doesn’t mean it’s warranted,” he said, dismissing the board as “a bunch of rich people . . . whose views are sometimes driven more by self-importance than by what’s best for the school.”
The trustees “can be a foundation board,” he added. “Let them raise money.” Sweeney’s under-the-radar proposal to eliminate the trustees, retain the governors, and change the appointment procedure for a third board overseeing Rutgers-Camden became public June 24.
While the bill has yet to get anywhere in the legislature – Deputy Assembly Speaker John Wisniewski (D., Middlesex) wants a study of the university’s governance first – Sweeney has reignited concerns about Rutgers-Camden’s autonomy. About 60 alumni gathered Tuesday at a Cherry Hill restaurant for a dinner and rally against Sweeney’s measure, which Rutgers-Camden law professor Robert F. Williams likened to “a heart amputation . . . [that] would make us not a real university.”
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