LSU System President William Jenkins will remain at the University after the University of Florida passed on him for a similar position.
At a reception in Gainesville, Fl., Wednesday night, UF announced it would welcome James Bernard Machen, University of Utah president, as its next president this January, according to a UF press release.
Chancellor Mark Emmert said he is relieved and very pleased that Jenkins is staying with the University because he has shown exceptional leadership abilities.
“From a selfish point of view I’m very relieved,” Emmert said. “As a friend and colleague I’m disappointed he didn’t get the position he wanted.”
In a webcast interview with the UF Board of Trustees Wednesday morning, Jenkins answered questions on topics concerning diversity and implementing academics and athletics.
He said he was not proud of the number of minority faculty on LSU’s campus, but he is proud of the advancements the campus diversity office has made so far.
“We have made progress in hiring more women,” Jenkins said. “[Diversity] is something that one must pursue relentlessly. It will not happen overnight.”
He said an academic base makes a great university, but other things such as athletics are part of that too.
“There is no question it would be a mistake to ignore the importance of athletics to a university,” Jenkins said. “[Academics and athletics] complement each other through exposure, and that’s how you get your stockholders and others to come to the University.”
He told the search committee he thinks the president of a university needs to be involved with making a case for the university at the state legislative level.
Roger Ogden, chairman of the LSU Board of Supervisors, said the University looks forward to welcoming him back.
“I think it’s fair to say it was not surprising that an institution of the caliber of UF, one of the top universities in the country, would be interested in President Jenkins,” Ogden said. “He’s a man of unimpeachable integrity with significant scholarly credentials including the deanship, provost, chancellorship and ultimately presidency.”
He said he thinks head football coach Nick Saban could recruit Jenkins to give a pep talk to the team this weekend after losing the position at UF.
“There may be no Tiger who wants to see the team beat Florida this weekend more than President Jenkins,” Ogden said.