LSU's president abruptly leaves after four years. What happens now?

Yahoo

3 days ago

LSU's Memorial Tower displays the time on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge, La. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
After former LSU President William Tate abruptly departed campus for the same job at Rutgers University in New Jersey, political forces began jockeying to posture their preferred replacements to take the prized office.
LSU's faculty will expect Tate's replacement to have an academic background, including the highest degree, a body of research and time as a faculty member. But politically-appointed university board members are mulling names without this pedigree, including those at the highest echelons of elected office in Louisiana.
Before the LSU Board of Supervisors can take action on a replacement, two questions must be settled: Will Tate, who served as both president of the LSU System and chancellor of the Baton Rouge campus, be replaced by one person or two? And what kind of search will the board undertake?
Earlier this year, two board members confirmed to the Illuminator the possibility of splitting the president and chancellor roles is being discussed. The two positions were combined in 2012. The uncertainty could impact the pool of candidates, as some applicants might not want to take a job that could be split in two.
The effort to split the job is spearheaded by LSU Board Vice Chairman Lee Mallett, a Republican mega-donor from Lake Charles. He said the combined roles have not served the university well.
'We've tried it for over a decade, and I believe the results speak for themselves,' Mallett said in an emailed statement. 'When a university is large, complex, and multifaceted, leadership must be distributed.'
LSU Board Chairman Scott Ballard, who was a member of the board in 2012 when the merger occurred, is generally opposed to splitting the roles again. He said in an interview he might consider dividing the jobs as 'there may be a reason to,' though he did not elaborate on what that reason would be.
Ballard said the board will soon announce a search committee, which he predicted would work over the next six months or so to conduct a nationwide search for Tate's replacement. Such a move could ease fears among some faculty who thought the board might choose and coronate a successor without their input.
Though Tate's successor could very well be a top administrator at an out-of-state university, there are some in-state names circulating.
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Matt Lee, LSU's vice president for agriculture and dean of its College of Agriculture, currently serves as interim president while the search plays out. An academic with an aptitude for politics, he could be seen as the compromise candidate.
Lee got his Ph.D. from LSU before joining the faculty at Mississippi State for five years, after which he returned to LSU. In Baton Rouge, he earned the rank of full professor before making the jump to administration.
Lee's work as a sociologist has mostly focused on crime, and his publications have touched on Louisiana themes, including the aftermath of the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Hurricane Katrina.
Lee previously served as interim provost before Tate ultimately hired Roy Haggerty, who is also on his way out to take the same job at Oregon State University. Though being made vice president for agriculture might have been a consolation prize, the position better serves him if his goal is to replace Tate.
Lee has not responded to questions about whether he intends to apply for the job.
Leading the LSU AgCenter, which has a presence in all 64 parishes — and by extension, every legislative district — means Lee has had the opportunity to form connections with lawmakers and other public officials.
His political clout, his academic pedigree and his general affability could make him the choice who would make the most people happy.
Wade Rousse has served as president of McNeese State in Lake Charles for just over a year. Before taking the job, he had worked several other administrative jobs at the school since 2019.
Rousse is the candidate favored by Mallett, who is a Lake Charles resident.
'Dr. Rousse will stand on his own two feet,' Mallett said. 'If he chooses to enter this process, I am confident in his ability to rise to the top based on merit, leadership, and qualifications.'
In an emailed comment, Rousse did not confirm or deny his interest in the position.
'While I am flattered that my name was mentioned as a candidate for its presidency, I remain laser-focused on building on our successes at McNeese State, where we have right-sized the university, stabilized our finances and reversed a 14-year enrollment decline,' Rousse said.
While Rousse has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois Chicago and some experience as an adjunct professor, he does not have the typical academic background expected of the president of a major research institution. And with just one year of experience running a regional university — with very different goals than an institution that spends over $500 million annually on research —- higher education observers question whether his administrative knowledge is enough to make up for his lack of academic experience.
U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Start, is rumored to be the most-favored political candidate for the job.
Letlow has represented Louisiana's 5th Congressional district since 2021. Her district was redrawn in 2024 to include LSU, where she held her re-election victory party last year.
Letlow has a Ph.D. in communications from South Florida University and worked in administrative jobs at the University of Louisiana at Monroe before joining Congress. A finalist for the ULM presidency in 2020, she was passed over for Ronald Berry.
In remarks to students visiting her during Washington Mardi Gras earlier this year, Letlow described applying for the job as one of the most terrifying experiences of her life.
'It was horrible and the faculty were terrible to me,' Letlow said. 'I didn't get it, and that was so good … because it was preparing me for the next step.'
Letlow spokesman Matt Smith declined to comment for this story.
Like McNeese, UL-Monroe is a regional non-research university. While Letlow might have the favor of the political class, the fact she was passed over for that job raises questions for faculty as to what makes her qualified to lead a much larger, much more research-focused institution.
That could change if the LSU board ends up splitting the two jobs. While faculty would be unlikely to back Letlow for chancellor, she wouldn't necessarily need to win their support to be successful as the system president, which is a much more political and administrative position.
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U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, is another rumored political pick for the job. He is currently in a fight for his political life in next year's election after voting to convict President Donald Trump for his actions in the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Though Cassidy might find an easy out — and a much higher paycheck — leading his alma mater, he said in an interview that he's focused on re-election.
A two-time LSU graduate, Cassidy is a physician and was on its medical school faculty for many years before starting his political career.
The theory of Cassidy as a potential successor is predicated on the idea that getting Cassidy out of the U.S. Senate race would be a political boon for Trump-aligned conservatives who want to replace him with a more favorable Republican.
The desired political domino effect is not unprecedented in Louisiana higher education. Just last year, Gov. Jeff Landry threw his support behind state Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Genovese to become president of Northwestern State University. That allowed a Landry-backed candidate to run and win Genovese's seat on the high court.
Though they were both finalists for the job in 2021, former Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and current Louisiana Tech President Jim Henderson are very unlikely to enter the fray again.
While Dardenne is a Republican, his endorsement of former democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Landry foe, and a subsequent eight years of service as Edwards' budget chief, makes him a non-starter with the Landry-controlled LSU Board of Supervisors. If his political disadvantage wasn't enough, Dardenne's lack of an academic background also puts him at odds with faculty expectations.
Dardenne is a two time LSU graduate, earning his undergraduate in mass communications and a J.D. from the Law Center.
Though he was passed over for the job previously, Dardenne, who was previously LSU student body president and a student member on the board of supervisors, has remained ubiquitous at LSU events, always dressed in purple and gold. That is unlikely to change.
Henderson served as president of the University of Louisiana System from 2017-23 and has been president of Louisiana Tech since then. He laughed when contacted about the possibility of him succeeding Tate and said he was happy where he is.
Though Henderson has experience running a research institution and plenty of political allies, his candidacy would come at the same time LSU is taking back control of the fiscally embattled University of New Orleans from the University of Louisiana System. That could prompt uncomfortable questions for Henderson about his knowledge of the crisis when he led the UL System.
And though he has a doctor of management from the University of Maryland, Henderson is not an academic and has never held a faculty job. He was also handed the Tech job under unusual circumstances, without a search committee or faculty feedback. Both factors could impact his standing in the eyes of LSU faculty.