Two students challenged Chancellor Mark Emmert to explain his explain his role in the University and why he gets paid so much on Friday by hanging a large banner on an exterior Union railing.
Speech communication senior Mason Crain and communication studies senior Greg Masson placed a banner that hung for 40 minutes on the Union criticizing Emmert’s salary and the fact that he is the highest paid chancellor at a public university in the United States.
The banner compared Emmert’s salary of $600,000 to the average chancellor’s pay of $277,000. It suggested the chancellor is overpaid because U.S. News and World Report only ranks the University as a third tier school.
“I have never seen Chancellor Emmert in real life, and I am a graduating senior,” Masson said.
Crain and Masson said they believed the banner was something that needed to be done because they strongly believe Emmert is being paid too much for a job no one sees him do.
Many students and faculty staff members complained about Emmert’s 70 percent pay increase earlier this semester and argued it was inappropriate, particularly because the University lacks funds. Several students who saw the banner agreed.
“The chancellor gets paid too much, no one never hears from him unless it is about his salary,” said Chitmnie Henry, an information systems and decision sciences senior. “With that type of salary we could have had some of these buildings being renovated completed by now.”
Others believe the raise is essential to protect the experienced and well-qualified chancellor from other university offers.
“A lot of students do not know the role of the chancellor, but he plays an essential role in raising money and obtaining funds for the campus,” said Andrea Allen, a mass communication junior.
Emmert deserves his salary because he is the official spokesperson for the University, supporters of the raise said. If the University gets a positive or negative reputation, it falls back on Emmert, supporters said.
Union custodial workers removed the banner because it violated Union policy. The students did not have permission to hang the banner on the building. It could have been placed safely in Free Speech Alley.
The banner also inaccurately stated Emmert’s salary was raised to $600,000 a year. He instead received a $205,000-a-year pay raise, making him the highest-paid chancellor at a public university in the United States at $490,000 a year. He will earn $590,000 a year if he remains on campus for another five years.
Emmert failed to respond before press time.