Ohio University's newest trustee said Friday she will resign from the board if elected lieutenant governor in November.
Eight months after Gov. Ted Strickland appointed Yvette McGee-Brown to the board of trustees, he asked the 1982 alumna to join his re-election campaign as his running mate. Brown said she will resign from the board to comply with Ohio law.
An expert on governing boards that oversee universities said Brown should resign, if elected, to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest.
Brown will continue to serve on the board while she campaigns with the governor, and although she missed the January meeting, she plans to attend the April meeting to discuss university budget cuts.
It was a pretty hectic two weeks (in January before the announcement)
and the winter meeting was right in the midst of it Brown said. She is a full-time candidate and left her position at Nationwide Children's Hospital to campaign.
I don't think it will impact my service on the board at all she said. I think it's important to realize that I'm not working in state government; I will be there as a trustee of OU
not representing the administration.
The board traditionally meets four times a year, but added an additional meeting this year.
If she is staying on the board
she should do her very best to attend all meetings
said Richard Novak, senior vice president for Programs and Research at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. If it becomes overwhelming
and she can't make meetings
then maybe she should step down
but it is too early to tell right now.
Brown was the first black judge to serve on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court, and was also president of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy and senior vice president for Behavioral Health Services at Nationwide Children's Hospital. She graduated from OU in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and earned a law degree from Ohio State University in 1985.
Though a sitting trustee has never run for lieutenant governor, former trustee Paul Leonard brought his political experience from the state's capitol to OU's board. Immediately following his term as lieutenant governor, Leonard sought a position on the Board of Trustees in 1991. Before securing his position as former Gov. Richard Celeste's second-in-command, Leonard served as a four-term state representative and the mayor of Dayton.
Public service is the best education a person can receive in life
Leonard said in an e-mail interview. Before I went to state legislature
I really was not equipped to understand the budgeting process of the state and higher education.
Brown said she recognizes the close ties between serving on the board of trustees and in a state office.
I always credit OU with developing my leadership skills and zeal for public service
