LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Don’t place academic life under political control

I write as a former editor of The Auburn Plainsman, as an Auburn alumnus and as someone who cares deeply about the university that helped shape my life. I’m deeply troubled by recent reports that Auburn’s Board of Trustees has moved to dissolve the Faculty Senate and assert greater control over curriculum. I do not pretend to know the details, and I recognize that universities, especially public universities, must be accountable to students, parents, taxpayers and the people of Alabama. But accountability is not the same as political control.