In addition to Ben Ladner, both Georgetown and George Washington University's presidents rank among the highest paid college presidents in the country, according to a 2004 survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg was the highest paid executive in the D.C. area in 2003, earning, including benefits, $641,364, according to the survey. Georgetown President John J. DeGioia made slightly less than Trachtenberg, at $587,922 total. In comparison, AU President Ladner made $633,000, but including benefits his salary totaled upwards of $800,000 in 2004.
Trachtenberg and Ladner were two of only 13 university executives to make over $600,000 a year in 2004, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, and DeGioia was one of 42 private university presidents to make over $500,000.
Both Trachtenberg and DeGioia defended their high incomes by the merit of the complex institutions they run, the level of work they do and the amount of money they bring to their respective universities, according to GW's newspaper, The Hatchet, and Georgetown's newspaper, The Hoya.
However, some students wondered if the hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries, thousands more in benefits and annual raises were justified.
"Last year, there was a lot of grumbling on campus that DeGioia gave himself a substantial raise," said Ted Reilly, a student at Georgetown. "It was interesting, since the university had just raised our tuition by 6 to 7 percent and had been having a lot of trouble meeting the Living Wage Campaign for university employees. Even some professors mentioned their unhappiness about the raise in classes."
"I disagree with how much we have to pay to attend this school, especially when our president is so highly paid," said Ben Rosenfeld, a sophomore at George Washington. "We don't have a cafeteria at GW and we basically have to live on a fast food plan. Maybe Trachtenberg could put some of that money into building us a cafeteria instead of raising his own salary."
Despite their grievances, both students defended their respective presidents.
"[Trachtenberg] is a really great guy, very cool," Rosenfeld said. "Last year he was voted the number one businessman, so I suppose he is doing something to earn all that money."
"I've never personally met DeGioia or interacted with him in a group setting, but he seems like an okay guy," Reilly said. "I've enjoyed my time here, so I don't have any major complaints about him."
Both were largely unaware of the situation with President Ladner at AU.
"I haven't heard anything about Ladner," Rosenfeld said. "I didn't know there was a problem"
