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Gov. Mike Braun told reporters Tuesday that “overwhelming” response from individuals wanting to be part of Indiana University’s Board of Trustees drove him to swap out three trustees with time left in their terms for his own picks.
Language slipped into the state budget bill in April makes all nine members of the Indiana University Board of Trustees gubernatorial appointees. Previously the school’s alumni elected three of the members while the Indiana governor picked six.
After previously indicating he intended to let board members serve out their terms, Braun, a Republican, dismissed the three alumni-elected members and appointed vocally conservative alumni, including Sage Steele, a former ESPN host, and attorney Jim Bopp.
The three now-former board members are Vivian Winston, Donna Spears and Jill Maurer Burnett. Winston’s term was set to end this month. However, Spears’ term was through 2026, and Burnett, who had been elected in 2024, was set to serve until 2027.
“It really didn’t make a lot of difference one way or the other, so we did make the decision to go ahead and do it so that we don’t even delay the few weeks to be involved,” Braun told reporters.
Braun defends IU Board of Trustees additions
Both Bopp and Steele were appointed to terms that will run through June 30, 2028.
Steele, a Carmel High School graduate who covered sports at WISH-TV Channel 8 early in her career, left ESPN in 2023 after suing the network and its parent company, Disney, over alleged First Amendment violations. Steele claimed she lost assignments after making comments that were critical of the company’s vaccine requirements and Barack Obama’s racial identity.
Braun defended his choice of Bopp, a Terre Haute-based attorney who was involved in the promotion and defense of the 2014 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, and drafted model legislation to outlaw abortion, which the state did in a special legislative session in 2023. Bopp also drafted policies for Braun’s administration through a think tank called Hoosiers for Opportunity, Prosperity & Enterprise.
His practice largely focuses on constitutional law and specializes in cases involving the First Amendment and Second Amendment.
Braun called Bopp “somebody that’s going to really be respectful of the First Amendment,” and said the appointment makes it clear that IU “ought to be a place where all views are listened to and [where] you don’t try to squelch anything based upon what your point of view might be.”
Last week, an Indiana court halted the usage of IU’s “expressive activity” policy, arguing it violated the First Amendment when used against students at pro-Palestine encampments in Dunn Meadow. Early in his tenure as governor, Braun signed an executive order directing the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to conduct a review of state colleges’ and universities’ policies regarding antisemitism and their responses to any incidents following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
Reinforcing support of Whitten
The governor also appointed Brian Eagle, managing partner at Indianapolis law firm Eagle & Fein PC, and retained board chair Quinn Buckner, whose third term was set to expire this month. Eagle’s term will expire June 30, 2027.
Buckner’s term now ends on June 30, 2026.
The budget bill limits appointees to three terms, raising questions about whether Buckner should be able to continue in his role. However, Braun told reporters that because the measure is not retroactive, it does not take into account previous time served on the board.
“The fact that he’s a new appointee, that’s when it starts,” Braun said. A spokesperson for the governor clarified that Buckner could theoretically serve several more terms.
Braun noted Buckner’s support of Whitten, for whom university faculty held a vote of no confidence last year. The board, led by Buckner, released a statement after the vote in support of Whitten.
“[Buckner], to me, was someone that I think was aligned with President Whitten,” Braun said. He added that he believes IU “needs a little sprucing up across the board.”
Braun also likened Whitten to former Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, a former Republican governor.
“I think she was brought in because maybe they were looking for some analog to what Mitch Daniels did at Purdue,” Braun said.
He pointed to Daniels’ tuition freeze at Purdue, which began in 2013. “It set the example,” Braun said.
Purdue held a public hearing Monday to discuss proposed tuition and fees for students attending the university’s main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis, as well as Purdue Fort Wayne and Purdue Northwest. IU may follow suit at its June 12 meeting, with plans to consider a proposal to keep tuition rates flat for in-state undergraduate students over the next two years.
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What an idiot.
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As we have all learned, the more Indiana Republicans “fix” education, the worse the outcomes. Wait until they insist on new job tracks for the careers of 40 years ago.
I hear his plan is to add degrees in coal mining and shower/toilet hydraulics.
Insistence on a major in warehousing logistics will make sure Indiana has lots of folks who can either work in warehouses OR drive trucks just in time for robots to replace both.
“ Once we get through this budget forecast — that forced us to do some things that you maybe wouldn’t have done otherwise — I’ll put the resources back where we’re getting the best results.”
Yeah Republicans claimed that in 2008 too. Never happened then either.
https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/06/03/braun-defends-iu-trustee-removals-appointees/
Dems do such a great job at education.
How about the graduation rate for kids entering IPS? Under 20%?
They are also successful on roads, crime, housing, homelessness etc.
#HogsettProud
Although he does have input, Hogsett does not control IPS. The Indiana legislature controls the purse strings for education and hasn’t been shy about meddling in Indy’s business. Why haven’t they fixed this?
Bernard, Republicans have been in charge for two decades and things are getting worse. Time to stop blaming Democrats.
Republicans still can’t offer Indianapolis a better answer than looking for a rich guy who wants to waltz in to run for the job for his ego. Little wonder they get smashed every four years in the mayoral race.
Roads in Marion County are the fault of Marion county Republicans who sit on their hands every session and let gas taxes paid by their constituents … get spent on state highways in places where no one wants to live.
Even my Republican CCC rep tells me not to blame Joe Hogsett.
Having clauses out of context with the legislation subject mater has been normalized by the Super Stupid Super Sneaky Majority Party .
It’s funny how all call for change, then can’t handle the change that doesn’t agree with their status quo views.
Mitch was able to elevate Purdue to one of the most highly respected universities in the nation through financial discipline and no-nonsense leadership. Whitten and the new board can begin doing the same, but they have a much longer climb because of the liberal morass that is IU. However, I can’t understand why anyone would object to students engaging in a little jew-hatred and violence between classes to help them cope with the strain of their coursework.
Mitch also shut off Purdue to a lot of Indiana students and kept tuition frozen by taking in lots of out of state and international students, to the point where the Legislature had to step in and insist that they take all students who completed the necessary degree prerequisites and applied to the school.
So, yeah, perhaps Purdue has a higher profile and didn’t raise tuition. But they may have gotten there at a long term cost to the state of Indiana, as we may no longer have the workforce with skills needed to attract high tech employers. Example – Intel went to Ohio.
Indiana has had to resort to trying to compete via the LEAP district which … has been contentious, to say the least.
What does this mean?
“However, I can’t understand why anyone would object to students engaging in a little jew-hatred and violence between classes to help them cope with the strain of their coursework.”
Wake up IU alumni. You cannot be trusted by the Governor and State Legislators to vote on trustees at your alma mater. I hope, though, that you will be competent enough to vote on state legislators in 2026, they too need sprucing up.
Joe B, your conspiracy theories are up there with Deep State pizza parlors using O positive in the sauce.
You recently compared career politicians to “career physicians”. I realize you are in good company here at IBJ, but you might want to sit out any education conversation
No thanks, class is in session. Time for you to be the student.
Go look at the mix of students at Purdue the past 30 years. Purdue was taking over half of their students from out of state and overseas for most of Mitch’s tenure as President. I tend to think that’s a big mistake, since Hoosier students are the ones most likely to stay in Indiana and become the type of folks that employers need for their workforce.
You know where every out of state student I knew at Purdue went when they graduated? Back home, out of state, to be employed.
You know where the local Indiana kids like me went? Back home again in Indiana.
If state colleges like IU and Purdue are going to take large amounts of taxpayer dollars, they need to produce for taxpayers. They can do that by taking every qualified Indiana HS grad that shows up on their campus and turning them into the graduates that this state needs to compete. What Daniels did at Purdue didn’t help with that, and what Braun is doing to IU isn’t helping with that either.
Regarding career physicians, go read that thread again and get back to me. You’re welcome to think a guy like Mike Braun is better for Hoosiers than Eric Holcomb, or someone like Diego Morales is better than Holli Sullivan. But I think history will prove you wrong.