Andrew Wolfson

Louisville Courier Journal

Raising the stakes for University of Louisville President James Ramsey, two members of the board of trustees announced Thursday that they no longer support his presidency while the board's chairman said he favors reducing the president's powers.

Punctuating an all-day meeting, trustees Craig Greenberg, president of 21c Museum Hotel, and Steve Campbell, a former senior adviser to investment banking firm Lazard Freres & Co., cited issues and events at the university since they signed a resolution September supporting Ramsey.

Campbell, who spoke first, said: "I'm happy to stand alone, and I do it with all due respect," while Greenberg said he felt compelled to withdraw his name from the resolution because it was being used as leverage by Ramsey's defenders.

"The document that we signed last September is now being used as a prop by other members of this board, and I, too, withdraw my signature," Greenberg said.

Ramsey declined to talk afterward with reporters. In a statement, however, he said the "two trustees out of 20 who spoke up are entitled to their opinion, but we have broad disagreements on how best to provide a high-quality public education."

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The trustees did not address a proposal circulated by some members that would prohibit the president from also serving as president of the university's foundation, which raises money for the university and has provided millions of dollars in pay supplements to Ramsey and his top staff.

But after the meeting, Larry Benz, the board's chairman, said that while he supports Ramsey as president, he thinks the powers of the president need to be "decentralized."

Benz specifically cited Ramsey's multiple roles at the foundation, which include membership on its executive committee and chairing its committee that nominates new members.

Pointing to the tremendous growth in the foundation, which owns dozens of private companies and manages an endowment of nearly $1 billion, Benz called for a "discussion of how we can lessen concentration of power in the president."

Benz, president and CEO of Confluent Health, which operates physical therapy and other health businesses, said he welcomes a review by the state auditor of the foundation's governance and its relationship to the university.

Move would divorce Ramsey, U of L foundation

One trustee, Ron Butt, a financial adviser and owner of ARGI Financial Group, said briefly during the meeting that he opposes the motion that would remove Ramsey as foundation president.

In his written statement, Ramsey said he supports the status quo, in which he heads both the university and the foundation, saying the arrangement has "shored up the university's finances" and allowed it to serve all students, especially the "poor and minority areas."

The university has suffered a string of embarrassments, including embezzlements, buyouts of well-paid administrators, and a pending FBI investigation of its executive vice president of health affairs, Dr. David Dunn.

Ramsey and the board also recently came under fire in a Courier-Journal editorial and a Herald-Leader column, while Inside Higher Ed asks in a story whether Ramsey should be held accountable for “a series of scandals."

Benz said the trustees discussed some of those matters – and how to prevent them from recurring – in executive session.

"It would be foolish to say nothing has happened," he said.

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189 or awolfson@courier-journal.com.

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