Terry Mutchler and Justin Boehret Represent Penn State Trustee in Election Lawsuit

Terry Mutchler, Chair of Obermayer’s Transparency & Public Data Practice, and litigation attorney Justin Boehret are representing Penn State alumni-elected trustee Barry Fenchak in a lawsuit against the university’s governing board. The case, featured in an April 2, 2025, StateCollege.com article titled “Trustee Sues Penn State Board After Being Disqualified from Alumni Election Ballot,” highlights major concerns about transparency and governance at Penn State.

On December 5, 2024, Terry was interviewed by Spotlight PA about Penn State’s Board of Trustees and its decision-making process. A Spotlight PA analysis found that nearly 85% of measures brought before the 36-member board since 2019 passed without a single dissenting vote.

Fenchak’s lawsuit challenges a recent amendment to the board’s bylaws that established a nominating subcommittee with the power to deem candidates “unqualified” and remove them from the alumni trustee ballot. Mutchler and Boehret argue that these changes violate Pennsylvania nonprofit law by failing to meet legal standards of being “reasonable,” relevant to the university’s purpose, and equally applied to all trustees.

“The Amended Bylaws are inconsistent with Pennsylvania Law in several aspects, and accordingly, they are unlawful and unenforceable,” wrote Mutchler and Boehret.

Mutchler and Boehret also argued that the board ignored the preliminary injunction preventing Fenchak’s removal and “utilized their Nominating Subcommittee to do what they were prohibited from doing by the Court’s order: removing [Fenchak] from the Board of Trustees.”

Additionally, Mutchler and Boehret argue that the board’s restrictions on free speech—which require trustees to publicly support majority decisions and prohibit criticism—are unconstitutional.

“The Defendants may choose to pursue policy that turns corporate governance and oversight on its head, but in doing so they may not override fundamental rights enshrined in the Pennsylvania Constitution,” they wrote, calling the conduct provision a “draconian gag order.”

A hearing date has been set for  April 11, 2025. Alumni voting runs from April 21 to May 8, with results announced May 9.

Read the full article here.

Additionally, Centre Daily Times has also covered Fenchak’s lawsuit. Read the article here.