FOUR NEW TRUSTEES HIRED
This semester, four new trustees were elected to Trinity’s Board of Trustees, and all of them are women. After this addition, there are 36 trustees on the board.
According to Tess Coody-Anders, vice president for strategic communications and marketing, university president Danny Anderson has been trying to add more trustees to the board. Since Anderson was hired in 2015, 11 new trustees have joined.
“That’s really important to Trinity as we think about things like development activities, fundraising, leadership and governance of the university where you’re bringing in people with new and fresh perspectives, so it was one of his priorities to add those new perspectives to the board,” Coody-Anders said.
At Trinity, current trustees decide who is added to the board. Members of the Board of Trustees are not employed by the university, and they are not paid by the university to hold their position. The new members of the board of trustees are Ruth Agather, Annell Bay, Jelynne Burley and Cydney Donnell, all of whom are women.
“The most recent group are all women. Of the 11 new trustees [from the past four years], eight of them are women, which was an intentional thing on the part of the Board of Trustees as they look to become more representative, so that’s exciting. Women generally in the world are often underrepresented on boards and in c-suites, so it’s exciting to see Trinity be intentional about finding highly accomplished women to join our board,” Coody-Anders said.
According to Coody-Anders, the board will continue to value all types of diversity as they continue to grow.
“I know that the university as a whole values diversity, equity and inclusion. I am aware that there is a shared belief in building a board that reflects that focus and is reflective of our students, faculty and staff. I am confident that we will see more progress with regard to board diversity in the near future,” Coody-Anders wrote in a follow-up email.
TRUSTEE CHARGED WITH DWI
April Ancira, a member of Trinity’s Board of Trustees, was arrested the night of Thursday, Sept. 12, and charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI). Ancira is an alumna of Trinity and graduated in 2002. She is the vice president for Ancira Auto Group, a car dealership company with a location in San Antonio.
Tess Coody-Anders, vice president for strategic communications and marketing, emphasized that Ancira has historically been helpful to Trinity.
“April Ancira is a passionate advocate for Trinity University both as an alumna and as a board member. You know, I really don’t know much about the situation, but I can say that she has been a delightful advocate for Trinity,” Coody-Anders said.
Whether or not Acira will face reprecussions regarding her board membership will be up to the Board of Trustees.
“The board is responsible for its own governance so what, if any, process would need to be followed would be managed by the board itself,” Coody-Anders said.
