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So are university officials saying Boyd can’t have overnight “lovers” or she just can’t live with anyone?

And here’s another troubling aspect of this contract. What’s the subliminal message? That Boyd isn’t capable of using good judgment and could tarnish the school’s reputation with romantic liaisons on campus?

One thing is clear: Alabama State University trustees appear to want Boyd focused and with no distractions.

Maatz told NPR that she’s not aware of similar contractual obligations at other universities. In fact, Maatz said, University of Alabama President Judy Bonner is single, and her terms of employment contain no stipulations about her romantic life or whether guests can sleep overnight at the president’s mansion in Tuscaloosa.

“So she’s still a pretty rare breed. I commend the board of directors for hiring a woman — for having those kind of blinders and hiring the best candidate for the job,” Maatz said of Boyd. “But I do wonder if there still isn’t a bit of a double standard here for the kind of rules and expectations they have for a female president.”

According to NPR, “a statement attributed to Alabama State University officials says the clause has nothing to do with Boyd but with the increasing degrees of scrutiny that university presidents face as the top image-makers — the ” ‘living brand’ of the schools that employ them.”

Perhaps Alabama State University trustees are simply protecting the integrity of the historically black college and making sure that Boyd remains a Christian role model for the female students who attend the university.

Boyd, meanwhile, said she reviewed the contract, signed it, and is moving on.

“I can read; I read my contract thoroughly, I knew what I was signing and I have no issue with it at all,” Boyd said in a statement.

Before accepting the job at Boyd at Alabama State University, Boyd was executive assistant to the chief of staff in the applied physics lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Boyd has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Yale and a doctorate in divinity from Howard University. President Obama recently named her to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

It’s clear that Boyd was eager to accept her new position at Alabama State University and get to work. So if Boyd doesn’t have a problem with her controversial contract, why should anyone else?

What do you think?

No Overnight ‘Lovers’ for Alabama State University’s First Female President  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

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