University of Iowa Alumni Association chairwoman resigns amid organization’s change

IOWA CITY — Amid significant changes to the University of Iowa's 150-year-old Alumni Association, the chairwoman of its board of directors abruptly resigned earlier this month — calling her departure best for the organization and 'for me personally.'

Clare Kelly was chairwoman of the association's volunteer board when UI President Bruce Harreld in March announced plans to join the association with the UI Foundation, an independent fundraising arm. Kelly has been critical of Harreld's handling of the merger — questioning whether he circumvented bylaws by announcing the structural change without a board vote.

In emails obtained by The Gazette, Kelly, before Harreld's March 27 announcement, warned colleagues she was 'very, very concerned' about his plans for the association and how he was going about pursuing them.

'The UIAA cannot simply be dissolved upon directive of the university president. Among other things, it would require approval by the board of directors,' Kelly wrote in a March 25 email. 'I concur this is a serious situation and one that requires each of us as past and current UIAA leaders to engage President Harreld and request he share his intentions with us.'

Kelly also reached out to an attorney on the board's behalf to ensure the association and its directors are in compliance legally with the organization's bylaws.

But May 15, just weeks before the association was scheduled for a board meeting centered on the planned merger, Kelly announced in an email to her colleagues her resignation — effective immediately.

'I believe it to be the best course of action for the board and for me personally,' she wrote, according to an email obtained by The Gazette. 'I have enjoyed working with you and wish you the best.'

She did not return calls from The Gazette on Wednesday.

Filling the vacancy created by Kelly's resignation is chairman-elect Brett Veerman, of Verona, Wis. Board member Carl Stuart, of Austin, Texas, said Veerman will be heading the board's June 9 meeting, during which directors will discuss the path forward.

Stuart said a lot of questions remain, including whether the board will exist at all past next month and — if it does — who will be in charge?

'That's what we don't know — this is what the conversation will be at the board meeting,' Stuart said. '(Veerman) is the natural person to run the meeting. But there's going to be a new organization. So when that happens, you can presume that there's going to be a different governance. And we don't know what that governance is.

'I'm a board member,' he added, 'But I don't know what role, if any, I'll have subsequent to the June meeting.'

Stuart said an attorney will be present at the meeting — due to the many legal questions pending.

'The focus of the legal advice is on what options are there as we go through the combination — what things do we have to do to fulfill our responsibility and to fulfill the statutes,' Stuart said. 'The lawyers aren't asked to opine on the combination. You assume the combination's going to happen. Our lawyers should tell us what decisions we have to make to meet the statutes.'

When asked whether he expects any pushback on the board to the proposed merger, Stuart said, 'in any combination of organizations — whether it's for-profit or not-for-profit — there are people who are going to look with ... skepticism.

'I think it's my job, frankly, to bring not a negative outlook but a healthy skepticism to make sure that those things that I believe are important, effective, essential — that those be part of the combined organization,' Stuart said.

Few details have been made public about Harreld's plans to merge the 'overlapping' organizations into 'one new, unified organization.' He has said, however, that his decision to move in that direction stemmed from the work of an association-foundation committee charged with exploring ways the two groups could more closely align to 'deliver world-class awareness, engagement and support for the University of Iowa.'

Harreld has charged Lynette Marshall, president of the UI Foundation, with leading the new enterprise.

The Gazette, in April, reported the association's former President Jeff Kueter told colleagues he fought the merger and doesn't agree with it.

'I remain convinced of the benefits to our alumni and the campus of separate, specialized organizations working together when appropriate but capable of distinct approaches when necessary,' Kueter wrote in an email obtained by The Gazette. 'I made those arguments in recent days, but I did not sway the president from his conclusion that a unified structure will better serve the dual mission.'

Although the university has not set a deadline for the merger, administrators have created a tentative timeline that calls for the full integration of the advancement organization by January.