My college alma mater is full of controversy.

Here's some excerpts from a recent Washington Post article. The bolding is mine.

$500,000 In Ladner Spending Itemized
By Susan Kinzie and Valerie Strauss

An independent report on the personal and travel expenses of suspended American University President Benjamin A. Ladner and his wife questions more than a half-million dollars spent over the past three years, including a family engagement party that cost hundreds of dollars per person, "professional development" trips for the couple's personal chef to Paris, London and Rome, and a lunch of more than $5,000 hosted by Nancy Ladner for a garden club.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, also
reveals that Ladner was operating under a second contract, negotiated a
few years after he arrived at AU in 1994 by William I. Jacobs, then board of trustees chairman, but unknown to some on the board. The university's vice president of finance told auditors that he had repeatedly asked Ladner to let him see the second contract and that Ladner finally did, three years after it went into effect.

Now, attorneys are arguing over whether the second contract, which confers more benefits on the president, is legally binding.

Board members asked for an audit after receiving an anonymous letter this spring that complained of lavish spending by the Ladners. The report, prepared by Arnold & Porter LLP, a law firm brought in by the board's executive committee to help with the probe, provides a detailed accounting of the Ladners' spending, an issue that has spurred an internal inquiry and questions from federal law enforcement officials.
…
Ladner's total compensation in 2004 was more than $800,000, well above that of presidents at comparable schools, according to outside analysts. He and his wife, according to the report, were charging antiques and cashmere to the university as well.

The audit committee of the board will present a final report for the full board to consider when it meets early next month to try to decide on Ladner's future at the institution.

Ladner was suspended with pay in August as the investigation continued.

Trustees are debating whether his expenses were reasonable costs for a university president credited with improving the academics and reputation of the school and expected to court donors round-the-clock, were accounting disagreements that could be repaid, or were the last straw for a resident who squandered money at a school where more than 90 percent of operating revenue comes from students.

Until the new report, no detailed accounting had been done of the Ladners' spending, even as bills came in for first-class tickets for overseas trips, a waterfall for the back yard of the president's house and chauffeurs spending much of their time running errands for his wife to jewelers, salons and dry cleaners.

"It galls me to learn that Ben incurred a travel expense for himself alone to Nigeria of $22,345," trustee Paul M. Wolff, a senior partner in the Williams & Connolly law firm in Washington, wrote in a letter sent to board members Tuesday. "Had he bought a business elite ticket, the savings would have covered a student's tuition for one semester." Tuition this year is close to $28,000.
…
"We do not have enough financial aid to help every student," Wolff wrote. ". . . We have held our faculty to small, single digit salary increases."

But Ladner gave his personal chef raises that averaged 11 percent over the past five years, Wolff wrote.

The letter ended with menus from three birthday dinners for the Ladners, with such delicacies as pan-seared foie gras, BeauSoleil oyster, sabayon and caviar, and white truffle risotto prepared by the Ladners' chef, Rodney Scruggs.

Ladner told the board that the university should pay for all his personal services and other expenses at the campus residence because his 1997 contract not only requires him to live there but also agrees that the university will pay "all costs for maintenance, repair, insurance, utilities, telecommunications, dining, housekeeping services and residence staff." The university-owned house is adjacent to campus in one of Washington's most expensive neighborhoods.
…
The spending in dispute includes travel expenses, more than $6,000 in club dues, nearly $54,000 in drivers' costs, more than $220,000 in chef services, more than $100,000 in services from the social secretary and nearly $44,000 in alcohol.
…
Ladner was paid more last year than the president of George Washington University, which is twice AU's size and includes a medical center. An expert in higher education compensation compared Ladner's package with that of six other presidents of universities of roughly equal size and reputation as American and found Ladner's more than $100,000 higher than the next highest.

Although university presidents often are expected to entertain at home with dinners and other events for donors, the report concludes that the vast majority of the chef's time was not university-related.

Scruggs, who was executive chef at Christo in Bethesda and Bistro Bis in the District, received a salary of $88,000 last year.

The chef's position was eliminated as the investigation continued. And the social secretary, whose duties included serving as a personal assistant to Ladner's wife and as receptionist at the president's house on campus, was reassigned at the university.

The investigation will cost at least $1 million, according to sources who demanded anonymity because of their role in the probe.
…


Do you believe this shit? Well, I can't say I was surprised, considering this is the same institution that received enough money from Adnan Khashoggi ,
Known arms dealer, to erect an entirely new gymnasium. It is now called Bender Arena, however; it's obvious why.

It's ironic that The American University is having problems with the head of the institution embezzling funds and giving money and jobs away to his friends, while other employees and citizens (students) are struggling in the trenches. It's ironic that The American University has profited from arms dealers and has put them in a place of prominence. It's ironic that university bearing the name of the country, which was charted by an act of Congress (it says so on my class ring), is reflecting the state of the country itself so very well.

Personally, I much preferred having a headmaster that made lewd phone calls
to someone who embezzles hundreds of thousands of dollars for his own use while the students he works for can't afford to attend and professors are given paltry raises. At least the former was a great professor.

On the plus side, AU is now ranked #85 according to US News & World Report. I guess my diploma actually means something, even though the school is continuously surrounded by scandal. Crazy.