[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 188 (Tuesday, November 28, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2238-E2239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     BILL TO REDUCE MINIMUM NUMBER OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 28, 1995

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation which 
would reduce the minimum number of Board of Trustees of American 
University from forty (as defined in the University's Act of 
Incorporation) to twenty-five. American University President Benjamin 
Ladner and the Board of Trustees have asked me to introduce this 
corrective measure.
  American University was incoportated by Act of Congress on February 
24, 1893. Its charter contains a provision setting the minimum number 
of the Board of Trustees at forty. On May 5, 1995, the Board of 
Trustees of the University passed a resolution authorizing the Board 
Officers and the President of the University to obtain the necessary 
approval from the General Board of Higher Education, the United 
Methodist Church and the U.S. Congress to reduce the number of trustees 
to twenty-five. Both the General Board of Higher Education and the 
United Methodist Church have approved this change. Only approval from 
the Congress remains.
  The Board of Trustees believes that a board minimum size of twenty-
five will permit the University to fully engage in its fiduciary 
responsibilities and grant greater flexibility to hold meetings and 
conduct business as a fully constituted board. It has simply become too 
cumbersome for the University to conduct its business while retaining 
forty trustees on the Board.

[[Page E 2239]]

  I urge my colleagues to support this corrective measure.

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