The Democratic wave — along with a push for more transparency — pushed out two longtime University of Michigan board members.
Andrea Fischer Newman and Andrew Richner, both Republicans, lost their re-election bids. Democrats Jordan Acker and Paul Brown were elected in their place.
Acker and Brown will serve unpaid eight-year terms.
Newman was first elected to U-M's board in 1994. That makes her the current longest-serving board member. She recently retired from her job as senior vice president — government affairs for Delta Air Lines.
This fall, Newman returned more than $20,000 in campaign finance donations after the Free Press asked her about the gifts. The donations came from contributors running companies that received tens of millions of dollars in investments from the University of Michigan's $12 billion endowment. Newman said she had done nothing wrong in taking the donations.
Richner was first elected to the board in 2002. He is partner in the law firm Clark Hill PLC. He served three terms in the Michigan House of Representatives, two terms as a Wayne County Commissioner, and one term on the Grosse Pointe Park City Council.
Newman conceded the race in a social media post about 10:30 a.m.
"I am eternally grateful to the people of this great state for granting me the honor of serving on the University of Michigan Board of Regents for 24 years. Together we fought to keep tuition low and standards high. We grew the endowment. We grew the campus. We grew aspirations and opportunities for both students and faculty. I leave the University of Michigan knowing it will continue to prosper under the Board of Regents and will forever be the nation's premier state university. My heart will always be in Ann Arbor."
Richner could not be reached for comment.
Acker ran on his recent experience as a student. He graduated from U-M in 2006.
"I am honored and humbled to be the first regent elected who graduated in the 21st century," he said in a statement. "We have a lot of work to do, and I look forward to getting started in January. Congratulations to Paul Brown, and thank you to Regents Newman and Richner for their dedicated service to the University we all love."
Brown thanked Newman and Richner for their "selfless" service to U-M. He said Newman, in particular, belonged on the Mount Rushmore of regents.
He said he was ready to get to work.
"I'm not joining this board to just come to a few meetings," he said. "I believe in creative disruption."
Brown and Acker made increasing transparency, especially in U-M's $12 billion endowment, a priority.
A number of the reforms suggested by the pair were built on reporting done by the Free Press in recent months.
In a series of articles, the Free Press has shown how the university invests hundreds of millions of dollars from its endowment with members of its investment advisory committee. The Free Press also found the university has invested with its biggest donors, including New York developer Stephen Ross, who has given more than $300 million to the school. The articles also showed that Newman had taken campaign contributions from people, including Ross, with ties to companies the university has invested in. Newman has denied any quid pro quo and returned nearly $25,000 in contributions after the Free Press raised questions.
The board itself has already made some reforms, including pledging to publicly identify any investments in firms with ties to members of its investment advisory committee.
But the Democrats' plan goes further. It calls for:
- Holding board meetings in the evening instead of the afternoon so community members can attend.
- Live-streaming all meetings on the university's website.
- Banning board members from taking campaign contributions from any person "entrusted with university endowment dollars and/or major contracts with the university."
- Having any investment from the endowment into a firm controlled by a major donor reviewed and approved by a third party or "disinterested expert review board."
- Mandating regents disclose and abstain from any vote to hire "any firm or individual or invest in any entity from which they have a financial interest or which they have received campaign donations from in the past."
- Banning regents from soliciting, accepting or publicizing endorsements from university employees or their families.
- Supporting extending the Open Meetings Act to include all meetings of the board.
- Hold 25 percent of all regent meetings at either the Flint or Dearborn campus.
- Improving Freedom of Information standards to match federal standards by 2020.
- Mandating that "any travel expense incurred by Regents outside the normal course of meetings must have a defined and disclosed business purpose."
After Acker and Brown released their plan, Newman and Richner said they agreed with it.
Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj
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