UNL has been thrown out of the AAU. This has never happened to a member institution. http://chronicle.com/article/U-of-Nebraska-Lincoln-Is/127353/?sid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en
Isn't the AAU basically just a self-congratulatory mutual admiration society, that's exclusive merely for the sake of exclusivity? I mean, it's bad press, yes, but a month from now will it really matter? -=Steve=-
In my decade or so on-campus at UF, I noticed how the administration was always happy to brag during new student orientations about how we are a part of AAU. Parents usually stare back at them with a blank look. Once in a while, one will ask, "So what does that mean?" They usually get "that means we are just like Harvard" or something to that effect. Here's a bit AAU-UF trivia not many people know about: Walk around campus, and you will see buildings with the UF seal saying "Est. 1905" - the date when the Buckman Act created the university. Look at the UF website, and you will see a different date - 1853. When AAU has their fancy pomp and circumstance meetings, it starts with a processional where the AAU member presidents enter in order of the founding date of their university. The president of the oldest university goes first, and so on. Apparently, one of the former UF presidents (don't remember which one) didn't like that he had to be near the end of that line, so he did a little history modification. He changed the founding date of the university from 1905 to 1853.
