The UMass board has the authority to fire the controversial political figure.

BOSTON (AP) – University of Massachusetts president William Bulger has declined an invitation to attend a meeting of school trustees, who plan to discuss his Congressional testimony, because he wants to preserve their independence, a Bulger spokesman said Wednesday.

The trustees, who are under pressure to fire Bulger, cannot legally bar him from the meeting, and chairwoman Grace Fey offered Bulger the opportunity to sit in or make a five-minute statement Thursday, Bulger spokesman Robert Connolly said.

“The president quickly told the chairwoman he was going to waive that right,” Connolly said.

Attending the meeting would only add to the perception that trustees hold Bulger as untouchable, Connolly said.

“If the board on Thursday continues to embrace his leadership, then people will be hard-pressed to say “Bulger has cast on a spell over them,”‘, Connolly said. “The board is an independent entity made up of independent, strong-minded community leaders.”

However, Bulger has been in touch with members of the board, Connolly said.

“He’s certainly been talking to members of the board over the past week. I think he feels comfortable that the board will use the yardstick of job performance,” he said.

Gov. Mitt Romney, who joined Attorney General Tom Reilly in calling for Bulger’s resignation, met with Fey on Friday to communicate his opinion that Bulger was evasive in his testimony before the U.S. House Government Reform Committee. Bulger appeared before the committee to answer questions about the relationship between the FBI and his brother, fugitive mobster James “Whitey” Bulger.

Fey then pledged to hold a meeting Thursday to discuss Romney’s contention that Bulger has damaged the reputation of UMass and therefore should be removed.

On Monday, Fey revealed that the Trustees hired outside counsel to analyze Bulger’s contract, leading to some speculation that Bulger’s job could be in jeopardy.

But Connolly expressed optimism on Tuesday.

Demonstrating damage to the school’s reputation would be difficult, Connolly said.

“Illustrating that and documenting that or making the case in an empirical fashion becomes difficult,” Connolly said. “Everything that you can measure is on the ascendancy here at the university.”

Under state law, Bulger has the right to attend Thursday’s meeting, “because it concerns his position with the university,” Connolly said.

Bulger has known for the past few weeks that trustees hired attorney Michael Keating, a partner with the Boston firm of Foley Hoag, to study his contract, Connolly said.

Bulger refused to comment Tuesday evening, when he attended a private event at the Union Club on Beacon Hill.

Messages left Tuesday night for a Romney spokeswoman and at a residential listing for Fey were not immediately returned.

AP-ES-06-24-03 2215EDT