University of Memphis President David Rudd announced to students and faculty that he would be declining a raise offered by the board of trustees.
Last Thursday student and faculty received an email from Rudd informing them that he would not be accepting the raise. In the email, Rudd stated that he appreciated the thought of the raise, but decided it was best to decline.
"I appreciate the thoughtfulness, support, and offer from our board of trustees, but ultimately believe it in the best interest of the institution to forgo any salary increase at this time," Rudd said. "Overall institutional efficiency has been at the forefront of my agenda from the day I started."
Rudd's current base salary is about $428,000, and the proposed raise would have added $96,000 to that. This would put his salary at over $500,000. His new salary also would have included extra funds, such as a $20,000 housing allowance, $9,000 for a car allowance and a $125,000 retention incentive payment.
For perspective, the University of Memphis' new athletic director Laird Veatch will be earning a base salary of $500,000, which is more than Rudd's current salary.
The raise was suggested after the board of trustees at Memphis brought in outside consultants to compare his compensation to that of others in his position at different colleges. They found that Rudd fell below the median with his salary, considering the improvements he has brought to the school.
The proposal sparked controversy across a campus where workers have been petitioning for an increase in hourly pay. Currently, the minimum wage at Memphis is $10.60 an hour. However, many employees, along with the United Campus Workers union and some students, have been calling for an increase to $15 an hour.
Some have speculated that Rudd turned down the raise due to this ongoing issue. Rudd has spoken out in favor of raising wages in the past, saying that a plan had been put together, but no details of this plan have been revealed to the media or the union.
The United Campus Workers put this statement on their website following Rudd's announcement.
"United Campus Workers are pleased that President Rudd has finally taken concrete action that aligns worker and student calls for pay and resource equity at the University of Memphis. As a union, we have amplified voices of facility service workers, grad students and adjuncts, brought our elected officials into the conversation, and done the hard work of reflecting UM to itself."
Another campus group against the raise was the Memphis Young Democratic Socialists (MYDS). The group said the raise was inappropriate due to the lack of initiative shown by Rudd and the university to give employees a living wage.
Tre Black, chairman of the MYDS, said even though Rudd declined the raise they are still not happy.
"We believe him refusing the raise was a bad faith gesture, as it doesn't account for his egregious new benefits," Black said. "He did say he would raise the minimum wage, but he won't reveal his plan to the union, and The Commercial Appeal said they cannot find any evidence of a plan."
