Current Interim President Matt Lee said he should have included more student input in the decision to close Unity Field during his interview to be the university’s president Wednesday.

Board of Supervisors member James Williams questioned Lee about how the university’s decision to close the tailgating space, which Lee and Board of Supervisors Chair Scott Ballard announced at a press conference earlier this month, aligned with president’s emphasis in listening to student’s opinions.

Williams said he thought the situation was handled incorrectly, saying the students who tailgate at the field were significantly impacted by the closure. Many students have said they felt they were not prioritized in the decision.

Lee said he could have done better by consulting “additional constituencies,” including students, in the decision.

“The way we handled that was not a decision made in isolation,” Lee said. “We had a number of stakeholders involved. But I think frankly in retrospect, and I’ve had conversations with [Williams] and some other people, we should have done a better job bringing more stakeholders into that conversation so that we could have handled it differently.”

He said he consulted with law enforcement, the university’s Division of Student Affairs, the Board of Supervisors, LSU Athletics and more in the decision, but that he also should have included student leadership’s opinion. He said this could have helped him better understand how the decision would impact students, particularly those who tailgate in the area.

“As the leader, I am happy to own that,” Lee said. “I could have done a better job in dealing with it.”

The decision to close Unity Field came following two shootings on campus during game days, which Lee said at a press conference could be traced to the tailgating area. The tailgating area, which is about a half mile away from where the shootings occurred, is predominantly home to Black Greek Life and minority student organizations’ tailgates.

Lee interviewed with the presidential search committee Wednesday to be the university’s next system leader. Following the five candidate interviews, the committee will recommend three for the Board of Supervisors to select from Tuesday.

“I’m also using this as an opportunity to let everybody know what my leadership style is, which is: when you have leadership responsibilities of this magnitude, there are lots of decisions that you have to make,” Lee said. “There are lots of things you have to do, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, and sometimes you do stumble and make mistakes. I regret that I didn’t do a better job with that and I commit of doing a better job going forward.”