Latest news with #Bopp
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Powerful anti-abortion lawyer, Trump supporter among Braun's IU trustee appointments
Gov. Mike Braun's new appointees to Indiana University's board of trustees include a prominent conservative attorney who's argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and a sports anchor who's openly stumped in support of Donald Trump, stoking fears that the changes to the board's composition are politically motivated. Braun removed all three alumni-elected trustees from the board on May 31 after a controversial provision in the state budget bill granted him the power to appoint all nine of the board's members. On June 2, Braun's office announced that James Bopp Jr., Sage Steele and Brian Eagle would be replacing the three trustees, serving three and two-year terms, respectively. He also reappointed current board chair Quinn Buckner for another year. James Bopp is a prominent conservative attorney who's brought cases before the U.S. and state supreme courts. In 2013, the National Law Journal listed Bopp as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America. Bopp was the attorney in the landmark McCutcheon vs. Federal Election Commission (FEC) case that eliminated caps on individual campaign contributions. He drafted the initial complaint for Citizens United vs. FEC, the landmark Supreme Court case that paved the way for the creation of super PACs. Bopp has served as general counsel for the anti-abortion group National Right to Life since 1978 and is the attorney for election integrity group True the Vote, which has repeatedly pushed claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen despite admitting before a judge that they had no evidence. He also co-founded Hoosiers for Opportunity, Prosperity & Enterprise (HOPE), a conservative policy making organization that heavily influenced Braun's policy positions. Local news when it happens Access Bloomington news anywhere with the Herald-Times app Between 1992 and 2025, Bopp has contributed over $43,000 to Republican candidates on the state and federal level, according to FEC data. Sage Steele is a sports anchor and media personality who was suspended from her job at ESPN after making controversial comments about vaccine mandates and Barack Obama's race during a podcast appearance. During her appearance on Uncut with Jay Cutler, Steele called vaccine mandates 'sick' and questioned why Obama identified as Black despite being raised by a white mother. She later sued ESPN for violating her First Amendment rights and settled with her former employer for around $500,000. Steele has become more outspoken in her conservative politics in recent years, joining Lara Trump and Tulsi Gabbard for a 'Women for Trump' tour on the campaign trail last October. The board has never been entirely apolitical; former trustee and Indiana Pacers president James T. Morris served on the staff of Republican Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar before his time on the board, and former member Bruce Cole was chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under George W. Bush before he was a trustee. Still, Braun's decision to select two outspoken conservative personalities has only added to criticism of what some IU faculty have described as a political 'takeover'of the board. The budget provision eliminating alumni-elected trustees, which Braun previously said he didn't recommend but supported, is currently the subject of an ACLU lawsuit. During a media appearance on June 3, Braun defended his decision to select Bopp, touting his reputation as a First Amendment lawyer. Bopp has argued several First Amendment cases before the Supreme Court, mostly about campaign finance contributions. 'He's making it clear that it ought to be a place where all views are listened to, and you don't try to squelch anything based upon what your point of view might be, and make sure it's all within the decorum of law and the Constitution,' Braun said. 'I think he is emblematic that the first amendment makes sense, and he's a guy that's been for it through thick and thin.' Brian Rosenzweig at brian@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @brianwritesnews. This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Gov Braun IU trustee appointments James Bopp Sage Steele prominent conservatives
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Braun defends IU trustee removals, appointees
Indiana University's Sample Gates are pictured in Bloomington, Indiana on April 18, 2022. (Madelyn Hanes/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Indiana Gov. Mike Braun on Tuesday defended his sudden removal of alumni-elected Indiana University trustees and his contentious picks to replace them. Braun previously cited nearing ends of terms for Vivian Winston, Donna Spears and Jill Maurer Burnett as why he wouldn't oust them early. A month later, he turned that logic on its head. 'It's so close to that being the case anyway,' he said of the three, who are all now listed as 'former' trustees. 'You can't believe the number of individuals that came forward wanting to be considered in those slots,' Braun continued in mid-morning comments to reporters. 'So, with that kind of enthusiasm and the fact that it really didn't make a lot of difference one way or the other, (I) did make the decision to go ahead and do it, so that we don't even delay the few weeks that would be involved.' But only Winston's term was due to end this year, according to an archived 'about' webpage. Spears was supposed to serve until 2026, and Maurer Burnett had until 2027. Lawmakers gave Braun control over IU's three alumni-appointed trustee spots via language slipped last-minute — and without opportunity for public comment — into the two-year budget. The body's six other members were already gubernatorial appointees. The oversight entity sets tuition rates, controls campus projects and approves budgets. At other public Hoosier institutions, alumni can offer direct or indirect input into trustee picks. Braun tapped prominent and polarizing attorney Jim Bopp as trustee. He's best known for waging legal battles to weaken campaign finance laws and restrict abortion access. 'You want somebody that's going to really be respectful of the First Amendment, and it's making it clear that it (IU) ought to be a place where all views are listened to,' Braun said. '… He's a guy that's been for it through thick and thin.' Bopp's term extends through June 2028. Braun's other replacements are Sage Steele, a sports anchor known for controversial comments on race and vaccines whose term also ends June 2028, and Indianapolis estate attorney Brian Eagle, whose term ends June 2026. IU graduate and House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta denounced the flip-flop, predicting Bopp and Steele would harm academic freedom in Indiana. 'Not fulfilling a promise you previously made is par for the course with this administration – first property tax relief, now IU trustee appointments. Promises made, promises broken,' GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, said in a Tuesday statement. 'It's not hard to imagine that our two new trustees who are well known for their successful work overturning a woman's right to choose and work in the conservative media circuit, respectively, will have an agenda to limit the research questions that researchers and professors are allowed to pose,' he continued. Braun also reappointed W. Quinn Buckner, the board's current chair, to a fourth term lasting one year — despite a new three-term limit in Indiana Code. 'It clearly said it's not retroactive,' Braun told reporters. He said Buckner is 'aligned with' IU President Pamela Whitten and wants to do some needed 'sprucing up.' Braun said he wants Indiana's public educational institutions to offer both 'good value and degrees that have a market here in the state,' complimenting Purdue University's longstanding tuition freeze. Other schools are enacting freezes on recommendation from Braun and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. They're also smarting from 5% cuts in appropriations as the state struggles to cope with a dismal revenue forecast. That, along with the prospect of the State Budget Agency withholding another 5% of allocated funds, has prompted Ivy Tech Community College to lay off more than 200 employees across the state. 'Ivy Tech is arguably, of the public institutions, maybe the one that is most important in this day and age,' Braun remarked. The system usually enjoys favor among even the most anti-higher education Hoosier leaders and lawmakers for its low tuition and focus on workforce development. But, Braun said, Ivy Tech 'is part of the rest of public schools that we're going to ask to find efficiencies. 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.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Chicago Tribune
02-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Purdue, IU trustees voting on tuition freezes; Braun names new IU trustees
The Purdue University Board of Trustees will vote on a proposal Friday in West Lafayette to freeze tuition on in-state students, but raise rates for out-of-state and international students, in select majors. At Purdue Northwest's Hammond and Westville campuses, a release said the proposal includes a 3% per-year tuition increase for non-resident and international students. The increases at Northwest will be used to fund the operating budget, including faculty and staff salaries and benefits, scholarships, supplies, services, and repair and rehabilitation. On the main campus for new and continuous international students, the undergraduate fee would increase by $500, a professional master's fee would increase $500 and the graduate fee would be $45 higher. For out-of-state and international students enrolling for the first time in 2026 or later, the fees will increase by $1,000 for an undergraduate engineering fee; computer/data science and artificial intelligence undergraduate fee and for a business undergraduate fee. Purdue said the fees would offset increased costs for specialized technology, equipment, facilities and/or have unique professional accreditation requirements changing. In-state students on the main campus under the fiscal proposal would see no changes in rates for 2025-26 and 2026-27. Meanwhile at Indiana University, trustees will hold a tuition forum at 12:15 p.m. June 12 prior to the start of the 3:30 regular meeting in Bloomington where the proposal will be considered. In line with Gov. Mike Braun's recommendation, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education recommended tuition and mandatory fees at all seven of Indiana's public colleges and universities remain frozen for the 2025–2027 academic years. The freeze amounts to a 5% budget decrease for the universities due to the $2.4 billion budget shortfall. On Monday, Braun announced three new appointments to the IU Board of Trustees. They include Sage Steele, a former ESPN anchor who left in 2023 after she was disciplined for remarks opposing the Walt Disney Company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. She hosts a YouTube show and podcast and lives in Florida. She graduated from IU-Bloomington in 1995. James Bopp, of Terre Haute, is a well-known conservative attorney who opposed welcoming cities ordinances in Gary and East Chicago. He also championed anti-abortion legislation. Bopp received an undergraduate degree from IU in 1970. In 2021, Bopp represented 8 IU students who sued the school because of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, but a federal court rejected their request for an injunction. Brian Eagle, of Fishers, is an Indianapolis attorney, author and wealth strategy consultant. He's a 1986 IU graduate with an accounting degree. Braun also reappointed Quinn Buckner, a former NBA player, and an executive with the Indianapolis Pacers. He became a trustee in 2016. 'I am confident that these appointees, who are all Indiana University alumni, will serve in the best interest of the university and will help guide IU back in the right direction as a premier flagship university in our state,' said Braun.
