The newly appointed president of Alabama State University, Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd, doesn’t seem to have an issue with her contract, which includes a 300k salary, a car and a presidential residence, but questions are arising about whether or not a clause in the contract is legal.
According to Inside Higher Ed, the contract includes a clause that prohibits Dr. Boyd, a single woman, from having any romantic visitors in her residence. The Alabama State contract, posted online by Alabama Media Group, states, “For so long as Dr. Boyd is president and a single person, she shall not be allowed to cohabitate in the president’s residence with any person with whom she has a romantic relation.”
Boyd says that she lives alone and she has no problem with the language in the contract. Not surprising since a woman with her level of education and experience certainly would not have signed a legal document that posed a problem with the way she would like to live her life. And it should be noted that despite reports that the contract prohibits overnight romantic guests, the language suggests that it only prohibits cohabitation.
The uproar really isn’t about how comfortable Dr. Boyd is with the language, but rather whether or not the language should even be there. Is it legal for this institution to place such a clause in a presidential contract? According to Raymond Cotton, a lawyer who specializes in higher education presidential contracts, the language may be illegal. Legal or not, you have to wonder if it’s appropriate or even necessary.
To read more visit Inside Higher Ed.
BMWK Family, what are you thoughts about this clause being placed in Dr. Boyd’s contract.
Featured Image Courtesy of Governor Robert Bentley. Governor Bentley congratulates Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd after the Alabama State University Board of Trustees offered her the presidency of the university on Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, on the campus of ASU in Montgomery.