AGB History final highres - March/April 2021 - ABG29

AGB at 
From Survival to Service
BY PETER HARTMAN, 1991

ineteen ninety-one marks the 70th anniversary of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. As you might expect, the association's
development has evolved to reflect the changes in higher education's governance system. As AGB celebrates 70 years of service to boards-public and private,
institutional and system, governing and advisory now is a good time to look at how the
association has changed with the times.

From its founding in 1921 until the
early 1960s, the Association of Governing
Boards of Universities and Colleges was
a loose affiliation of board members who
took turns providing leadership and direction necessary to hold the organization
together. The early organization operated
as the Association of Governing Boards
of State Universities and Allied Institutions, and its membership was open only
to boards of public institutions. With the
purpose of promoting contact among
members, and without a salaried staff,
the association's activities were limited to
annual meetings of its various committees.
Judge Ora Wildermuth, a trustee of Indiana
University and one of AGB's presidents
during the 1930s, was partial to AGB
because " we have no ideals or objectives
except to benefit by our contacts with each
other. "

Voting Delegates
At the annual meetings, a quasi-legislative
tone prevailed, and proposals were voted
upon by the " delegates " in attendance. The
delegates did not represent their boards or
institutions in an official capacity, and the
resolutions they passed carried no weight
outside the meetings.
During the 1950s, recurring resolution

AGB.ORG

topics included pledges of support for preserving the " American way of life " and preparing our colleges and universities to be
leaders in civil defense. At the 1960 annual
meeting, it was resolved that the U.S. would
" achieve ultimate victory over communism
if we properly educate America's youth. "
Some other examples:
Q Be it resolved that it is urged that governing boards encourage better organization
of public information emanating from
their administrative offices. "
Q " Be it resolved that boards of trustees
and regents stand firmly for recognized
courses in the major fields of general education as necessary parts of preparation
for specialization, especially in the fields
of agriculture, engineering, and their
related branches. "
Some of AGB's standing committees in
1960 reflected an odd dichotomy of issues:
Space Utilization, Entrance Requirements,
Legislative and Intergovernmental Relations, Public Relations, Regent Responsibility for University Participation in Education
Abroad, Scholarship and Tuition Studies,
and Television in Higher Education.
Members were concerned about the
movement to consolidate existing institutionally based governing boards into
statewide boards. AGB's Committee on

Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations resolved that the trend was " inimical
to the best interest of higher education. "
Members vowed to go " directly to highly
placed officers of government to explain
and justify our mission, " even though Article I of the AGB constitution at the time
mandated that " no substantial part of the
association's activities...shall involve the
carrying on of propaganda or otherwise
attempting to influence legislation. "
AGB's executive committee then
resolved to " fight the movement to destroy
local governance of higher education, elect
a few leaders in each state who understand
higher education, and will be willing to
fight for it in the state legislatures. "

New Headquarters
Following the death of AGB secretary
and Iowa State Board of Education member Richard Plock in 1959, University of
Colorado Regent Virginia Blue assumed
the newly created position of executive
director. With member at a new high of
76, AGB's headquarters were moved from
Plock's home in Burlington, Iowa, to Blue's
in Denver. AGB was incorporated in Colorado in 1960 with the purpose of operating
" exclusively for educational, scientific, and
charitable purposes. "
In 1963, the AGB Executive Committee
voted to move the association's headquarters
to Washington, D.C. AGB President and
Texas A&M Regent John Newton said, " We
believe that the growth of AGB during the
past few years has brought the association
to the point that it can take its place with

March 2021 | AGB: A CENTENNIAL HISTORY 29

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