Candidates vie for trustee positions

Current trustee Philip Eskew and Michael Shumate are vying for a three-year term on the Board of Trustees.

The annual election for one of three alumni-elected University-trustee positions begins May 1. Two of the elected positions go to University alumni, while the third elected position goes to an IU student. 

While only University alumni are eligible to vote, that includes current seniors scheduled to graduate in May. The IU Bloomington Dean of University Libraries and the IU Alumni Association conduct the election.

Alumni can vote online at election.alumni.iu.edu, and voting will close at 11 a.m. June 29.

Philip N. Eskew, Jr., M.D.
Dr. Eskew, currently completing his second term as an elected trustee, is running for re-election to the Board of Trustees.

During the past six years, Eskew has served as chair of the facilities committee and chair of the Advisory Boards of Leaders for both the IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and IU-South Bend campuses. He also has acted as a liaison to the IU Athletics Varsity Club.

Eskew completed medical school at IUPUI and spent time as an undergraduate student at IU-Bloomington. He currently teaches as a volunteer clinical professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“I think we’re in the midst of a positive movement for the University and positive growth,” Eskew said.

“We’re building buildings and we’re also re-evaluating our academic directions, re-evaluating all of our courses to see which are appropriate for today’s marketplace.”
Eskew said that in the future, the Board of Trustees needs to be efficient when dealing with the cost of completing a degree.

“There is declining state support for the University, so we as trustees need to streamline the educational pathways toward the completion of a degree in as short of time as possible,” he said. “We need to be affordable, we need to be efficient, and we need to get there.”

Eskew said the Board of Trustees needs to ensure the University maintains top-notch academics apart from the facilities. A lot of students come to IU for its campus, he said, but many choose to attend IU for other aspects of the University’s environment.

“A critical piece of the Board of Trustees is to create a campus environment that attracts outstanding students and faculty,” he said.

He said that although the majority of undergraduate students are not allowed to vote in the upcoming election, they should prepare for a time when they are able to participate.

Michael D. Shumate
Shumate, who graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1967, said he had been thinking about running for election for quite some time.

“I’m running because I’ve lived outside the state for a long time, but I’ve stayed engaged in the University,” he said. “Ever since being a student, I’ve loved the University.”

Upon completing his undergraduate degree, Shumate went on to receive his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and continued to work as an accountant and lawyer in the Los Angeles and New York law offices of Jones Day.

Shumate is the current director of the IU Foundation, a member of the Kelley Dean’s Council and president of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Alumni Association.
Shumate said faculty pay tops the list of issues he hopes to focus on as a
trustee.

“I think faculty are one of the most important components of the University,” Shumate said. “Even in this challenging economic environment, we need to be doing more.”
Shumate said he also hopes to focus on issues of diversity, adding that the University should continue the push for the diversity Herman B Wells started.

He said he also hopes to address administration accessibility to students and faculty.

He said he attended college in the “turbulent ’60s,” and had the chance to be taught by former University Presidents Herman B Wells and John Ryan, as well as former Dean of Students Robert Shaffer.

“They taught me valuable principles that have remained with me to this day — the importance of freedom of student expression and accessibility to administration,” Shumate said.

He said he saw the administration become more effective when they provided a clear pathway for ideas to be exchanged.

Currently living in Los Angeles, Shumate said he returns to Bloomington about once a month and is in the process of buying a condominium in Bloomington.

He said he remembers serving as president of his senior class during his time at IU, as well as living in the Sigma Chi fraternity house, playing frisbee in Dunn Meadow and hanging out at Nick’s English Hut.

“I had a great four years,” he said.