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Frying pan (UNC) to fire (MSU)?

Started by Hibush, December 09, 2023, 05:52:27 AM

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Hibush

Michigan State just hired its sixth president in six years. Kevin Guskiewicz was announced as president on Friday Dec. 8. NY Times gift link. The new president observes that the institution would benefit from some stability.

He has spent the last few years as chancellor at UNC. I appreciated the understatement, "I'm going to bring experience and expertise from U.N.C. Chapel Hill. We've had our own share of challenges."

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina said about the move, "U.N.C. governing boards with extreme appointees controlled completely by legislative Republicans seem to prefer chaos and meddling over sound and stable leadership, and these actions will ultimately hurt our state's economy and reputation."

At UNC, he has had the support of the governor, but not the board that he reported to. At Michigan State the governor has a different take. "Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a graduate of the university, denounced Michigan State in October for a lack of 'clear unified leadership or direction and tragically no accountability.'"

Good luck to both schools.

Ruralguy

University education and research has become one giant political football, and not the good kind of football.
As we've seen, its not just budget wrangling and culture war, but struggles over international politics and spillover into student opinion and student discipline.

Privates are not in much better shape (though maybe on budgets, depending on the school).