A Monroe County judge ruled Friday that a law granting the Indiana governor the authority to appoint all members of the Indiana University Board of Trustees is constitutional, rejecting claims made in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana against Gov. Mike Braun in May 2025.
The decision comes less than two weeks after Braun announced his three newest selections for the board.
House Enrolled Act 1001 went into effect last May and eliminated the three alumni-elected positions on the board, a process that has existed for over a century. Under HEA 1001, all nine members of the board are now chosen by Braun.
The ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit against Braun a day after he signed HEA 1001, with former trustee candidate and IU alumnus Justin Vasel as the plaintiff. The lawsuit argued that HEA 1001 violated the Indiana Constitution and was filed in the Monroe Circuit Court.
The lawsuit claimed that because the change only affected Indiana University, it was special legislation.
“Given that there is nothing unique about Indiana University that justifies application of the new statutory scheme to it and not to Indiana’s other four-year universities, the statute violates the [Indiana] Constitution, Article 4, section 23,” the 2025 lawsuit read.
The lawsuit also claimed that Vasel experienced “irreparable harm” because he would have been a candidate for the previously alumni-elected trustee position and would have also voted in the election.
Special Judge Erik Allen determined that Vasel suffered direct injury and has the legal standing to bring the case to court. However, the Friday decision also upheld HEA 1001 as constitutional.
Under Article 4, the Indiana Constitution requires that “all laws shall be general,” and apply uniformly throughout the state. However, the decision states that “special” legislation may still qualify as constitutional when it addresses a subject with “unique characteristics.”
The court further explained that the law must stand “if there is a link between the class’s unique characteristics and the legislative fix.”
The decision claimed that IU was already unique among Indiana’s public universities by being the only public university with a law that required its alumni trustees to be elected by other alumni.
“Even if HEA 1001 is special, it is justified by a unique characteristic of Indiana University’s Board of Trustees,” the decision read.
The decision granted the defendant summary judgement, a legal procedure where the lawsuit is resolved before trial.
The ACLU of Indiana did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
