The IU Board of Trustees will meet to discuss two new majors and revisit its code of conduct at its first meeting of the semester Thursday.
According to the agenda, the trustees will vote on a code of conduct update that was delayed during the June 12 meeting after trustee James Bopp Jr. raised concerns that the update was not independently reviewed or made public prior to the vote. He also questioned the broad language of the update.
The board will also receive legal advice from counsel during the private session.
The trustees have been the subject of several high-profile lawsuits over the past couple of years. According to MyCase, multiple civil cases have been filed against the trustees in Indiana in the past five years.
Former IU Men’s basketball players sued the trustees and former long-time team physician Brad Bomba Sr. in October 2024 for alleged sexual abuse by Bomba Sr. and claimed that the university mishandled its response to the known, repeated abuse.
IU hired international law firm Jones Day in September 2024 to originally investigate the claims. The firm released its findings in April that Bomba Sr. acted in a “clinically appropriate manner.”
The trustees voted to indemnify Bomba Sr., who died at 89 on May 8, 2025, at their June 12 meeting. The university will cover Bomba Sr.’s legal costs, as outlined in its indemnification policy.
At the upcoming meeting, the board will vote to approve the indemnification of two more employees, according to the agenda.
The indemnification policy states any employee who a legal action has been brought against will be indemnified if their actions were within the responsibilities of their employment and were “acting in good faith.” The employee must also alert the university when said legal action is taken.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in August 2024 against IU for its expressive activity policy, stating the policy was “overly broad” and violated the First Amendment.
In May 2025, a Southern District Court of Indiana judge granted a preliminary injunction against IU for the policy, finding the policy unconstitutional.
The trustees will also vote to approve two new degrees for IU Bloomington.
The first is a Bachelor of Science in Sports Media program, which would be housed in the Media School if passed. The agenda cites an “increasing demand for sports media coursework.” It also says the current sports media concentration for the Bachelor of Arts in Media is the second-most popular concentration of the major. The Bachelor of Science program will replace the concentration if passed.
The second major introduced is a Bachelor of Science in Robotics at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering. The agenda states the increasing reliance on Artificial Intelligence and automation creates a need for the degree, which will train students in design, programming, AI and other fields.
The meeting will be held at the Madam Walker Legacy Center in Indianapolis.
The board will have a private, executive session from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with public meetings beginning at 1:30 p.m.
