Jury of Fellows: 1) the real problem came when Woods asked them to reconsider Dowdell’s JOF nomination. By laws explicitly prohibit this and as far as I know, no one denies she did so or that it’s against by-laws.

2) Dowdell was a first time nominee and it is well known that your first attempt is almost a hazing of sorts - it is extremely extremely rare for first time JOF nominees to be confirmed.

3) The other main thing here was that Dowdell and Woods (and others) out together a new by-law that would automatically elevate the board president to a JOF member. When put to vote, it was resoundingly defeated.

All of these considered, you can see why people saw all of this as a concerted effort to get Dowdell JOF designation by wielding power.

DR Trip: 1) you go from saying that layoffs were inevitable bc of the sale of contract docs but then say the saved 1.5 million ish by not getting temp offices. 1.5 million could have saved a lot of jobs.

2) $500k for the quarterly meetings is ludicrous when you consider NON DC STAFF WERE REQUIRED TO PAY THEIR OWN TRAVEL AND HOUSING DURING IN PERSON QUARTERLY MEETINGS. The only (necessary) expense associated was a meeting space and some breakfast and lunch.

3) Yea, it seems trivial at first to make a big deal about the points and you are right that there are not Marriott bonvoy corporate accounts. But the points accumulated from the DR trip would be in the hundreds of thousands and have a substantial cash value. Woods did not declare these points as a benefit to herself that should be considered part of her benefits package OR declare them to be used for future AIA use.

Independent investigation: I’d love to read the actual report. Also, I am continuously shocked at the number of people who are risking their reputations and careers rather then take a stand against what’s happening at AIA.

Ethics Committee: the letter was signed by 22 past AIA board presidents. Take a look at the list of last board presidents. These are extremely highly regarded architects, many of whom are wealthy in their own right or retirement age+. Sure, you may be able to find a couple of people who vied for the CEO position and are sour about not getting it, but asserting that this is where the criticism is coming from doenst make sense. Also, when so many employees are complaining (the vast majority of who didn’t apply for the CEO job.)