Anne’s post on the trustees and endowment spending raises central questions about the responsibility trustees have to oversee the financial and academic well-being of the schools they serve.
There might be one reason why they often go unasked in trustee meetings. Many members of the board might have big holdings in the places in which endowments are invested. Do they want to see university wealth going into the classroom, or going into the funds and firms in which they have a sometimes sizable stake?