The  that the LSU Board of Supervisors has chosen to select the LSU system's next president has a big job ahead of it.
The outgoing president, William Tate IV, accomplished much during his four years in Baton Rouge. LSU hit record enrollments and spent an eye-popping $543 million in research funding last year.Â
Outside of the classroom, saw major athletic successes, including national championships in baseball, gymnastics and women's basketball, among others.
But it hasn't been all smooth sailing. Tate inherited the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic when he took the job in 2021. LSU was also dealing with the fallout of nationwide racial justice protests and accusations that some university officials had downplayed allegations of sexual assault.
More recently, several of his top lieutenants have left for other jobs, and he's been forced to institute a hiring freeze amid questions about the stability of federal research funding.Â
That's why it's important that the 19 members of the new committee, who come from a variety of mostly business but also some academic backgrounds, put the wealth of their collective experience together in picking a new leader.Â
They will face some serious questions: Should the candidate come from inside the system, like Matt Lee, currently the interim president, who has been at LSU for two decades? Or would it be better to go outside the system but stay with an in-state academic administrator like with McNeese State University President Wade Rousse, as some have suggested? Or should the new leader come from the political realm, like U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow — who also has university administration experience — as others have proposed?
Scott Ballard, the Board of Supervisors chair who is also on the committee, has said that members plan to conduct a national search. That sounds like a good idea. A proper search will include a rigorous look at candidates local and national who have the requisite academic and administrative experience, as well as the vision to move the system forward.
It's far too early to anoint any one contender at this point, but we can say this: The committee's actions will reverberate across the system's eight campuses and thousands of employees and students. The new leader will have to navigate the state's thorny politics, guide the impending absorption of the University of New Orleans into the LSU system and maintain the level of excellence that the LSU community deserves and has come to expect.Â
Given the weight of that burden, we urge the committee to work hard to identify the best candidate possible and reject overtly political considerations. After all, the choice isn't important just to those who bleed purple and gold.
LSU is the state's flagship university, and its success or failure affects all ¶¶Òõhns.Â
