Thomas Brouster announced his resignation as chairman of Saint Louis University’s Board of Trustees on April 12, a position he took in September 2012.
SLU’s original announcement of Brouster’s election to chairman stated that he had taken a four-year term. Prior to his position as chairman, he played a major role in financing the Doisy Research Center and Chaifetz Arena as the chair of the Board’s finance committee. Brouster has been a trustee since 2001.
“The University understands and respects Mr. Brouster’s reasons for his decision and is pleased he will continue as a member of the Board,” the University said in a statement. “We thank him for his leadership and service as chairman.”
In an article by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Brouster said that his decision to resign was due to the increasing difficulty of managing time between his position on the board and as chairman of Reliance Bank.
He took the role during a particularly volatile period for the University. His election announcement was followed closely by two votes of no confidence in President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., in addition to continued conflict between faculty and administrative groups. Since the votes, members of the faculty, staff and student body have placed pressure on the Board to remove Biondi from his position.
Brouster and the Board have since met with the leadership of Faculty Senate and the Student Government Association to talk about concerns and solutions for issues regarding campus climate.
As a response to the conflict, the Board and Faculty Senate agreed to form the Climate Assessment Committee. Brouster and Faculty Senate President Mark Knuepfer made a commitment to continued collaboration in a Dec. 21 joint communication.