The Chronicle of Higher Education is spreading misinformation about AU President Cornelius M. Kerwin — and it’s time to set the record straight. The Chronicle would have us believe Kerwin received a salary of over $1.4 million during the 2007-2008 fiscal year. But it’s false. The AU Board of Trustees appropriately has called this claim inaccurate and misleading. And to its credit, the university is pushing back hard against the Chronicle’s claims.
The Eagle’s article explains how the publication miscalculated the information. The Chronicle factored about $800,000 into Kerwin’s total earnings that simply should not have been counted. This $800,000 is a lump sum payout of deferred compensation, not a part of Kerwin’s salary or benefits package. As The Eagle reports, a portion of Kerwin’s earnings each year was placed in a trust back in 2000, when he was provost. Kerwin was prohibited from withdrawing funds from the trust before he had served nine years with the university. But as the Board of Trustees points out, the Chronicle added that nine-year investment to their calculation of his salary for a single year, which inflated his earnings.
All of this is relevant, because college and university presidents’ salaries has been a topic of national debate recently. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a press statement that salaries need to be more reasonable. And maybe they do. In such tough economic times, when students and parents are scrimping to pay for school, college and university presidents should not be getting exorbitant pay increases. They should do more with less. But the Chronicle of Higher Education should be honest about which presidents are making the most. The truth is, Kerwin’s salary is average for college and university presidents. He makes less than the president of George Washington University and even less than the president of Georgetown University.
Kerwin works hard. For almost a decade, he has been an invaluable influence at this university. But in spite of this, he has not taken a salary that is unreasonable or even particularly handsome, especially compared to other college and university presidents in the area. The Chronicle of Higher Education should fix their embarrassing error. In the meantime, AU students should take a moment to appreciate the good work their president does.
