Democratic candidate for Maryland senator, U.S. Congressman Ben Cardin is greeted warmly by Minister Gwendolyn Boyd at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Maryland, on Sunday, November 5, 2006
A clause in the contract of new Alabama State University President Gwendolyn Boyd forbids her from having any love interests spend the night at her presidential residence, the Birmingham News reports.
58-year-old Boyd is single and lives alone, but according to her contract cannot share her home with anyone — long-term or short-term — unless she marries that person. She cannot even allow family members to live in her home. “For so long as Dr. Boyd is president and a single person, she shall not be allowed to cohabitate in the president’s residence with any person with whom she has a romantic relation,” the clause reads.
Boyd says she has no problems with the contract. “I do live alone, so it was not a problem for me,” she said. But Raymon Cotton, a lawyer, told INside Higher Ed that that aspect of the contract could be illegal. “I don’t know of any state that has the right to invade someone’s residence even if the state owns that residence,” Cotton said. “To convey that residence and dictate what kind of romantic relationship you can have in that facility – I mean, she’s not in prison.”
Boyd is an ASU alum who graduated in 1977 with a bachelors in mathematics. She went on to attend Yale University’s School of Engineering and became the first African-American woman to receive a masters degree in mechanical engineering in 1979.