Chancellor Sean O’Keefe’s resignation as the University’s top administrator was scarcely mentioned at the LSU Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday.
Board member Charles Weems first mentioned O’Keefe’s resignation at the end of the meeting, saying he did not want to “ignore the elephant in the room.”
Weems said he respects System President John Lombardi’s decisions and does not challenge Lombardi’s good faith.
“The announcement yesterday … brought to an end an executive evaluation process gone public and for that reason made it enormously difficult,” Weems said.
Weems expressed concern about the manner in which the events surrounding O’Keefe’s resignation were handled.
“My concern is with the process as much as the result,” Weems said. “My concerns extend to the hostage choice with which this board and its members were seen and presented, and the fact that that choice is seen to impair our ability to address the issue directly as a board.”
Weems recognized O’Keefe for his service during Hurricane Katrina, his commencement of the Forever LSU campaign and his championing of the Flagship Agenda. Weems requested his statement concerning O’Keefe be placed verbatim in the meeting’s minutes.
“LSU will move forward under the leadership of President Lombardi and this board,” Weems said. “We may disagree on issues – we have in the past and we will in the future – but in the end we will close ranks and pull together for LSU.”
Board Chairman Jerry Shea thanked O’Keefe for his service and thanked Lombardi for his “quick action” in appointing System President Emeritus William Jenkins to serve as acting chancellor when O’Keefe relinquishes his administrative duties Feb. 1.
Lombardi said he believed Weems’ statement to be “heartfelt,” and said he respected the right of board members to express their views during a difficult time of change.
“I think everybody recognized we are in a transition moment,” Lombardi said.
In a broadcast e-mail Wednesday, O’Keefe informed members of the University community of his resignation as chancellor and thanked students, faculty, staff and alumni for their efforts in the University’s success during his leadership.
“This has been an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life,” O’Keefe said in the statement. “And I will always consider myself a Tiger.”
—-Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected]