LSU President F. King Alexander, whose future at LSU has been the subject of intense speculation recently, received the backing Friday of the governor.
“I support the entire team that’s in place,” Gov. John Bel Edwards told reporters after visiting the LSU Board of Supervisors. “I think it’s my job to support them and to challenge them and to give them the resources they need to deliver the flagship mission for the state of Louisiana.”
Some board members have privately groused about what they call the imperiousness of Alexander, as have some legislators and officials in other higher education systems.
They basically said King is more Alexander’s attitude than just his name. But they also give Alexander credit for navigating the university through years of declining state appropriations made up for with budget cuts and higher tuition. Only in the past two years has state funding increased.
And no board member disagreed Friday when LSU board Chairman James M. Williams, a lawyer from Metairie, sang Alexander’s praises to the governor, who was attending his first board meeting at LSU.
“Under Dr. Alexander’s leadership, we have grown to new heights. We have reached new levels and our students are performing better than before,” Williams told Edwards during the public portion of the meeting.
LSU expects to graduate its largest class ever — an estimated 7,109 students — on May 10.
The LSU Board of Supervisors hires and fires top leadership at the state's flagship university. By law, the governor selects members of the 16-member board for staggered terms. Edwards' appointees now hold the majority of the LSU board.
Since Scott Woodward last week agreed to leave Texas A&M and replace the ousted Joe Alleva as athletic director, one of the most popular parlor games around the State Capitol has been naming who would replace Alexander in running the LSU system, which includes medical schools, research institutes and campuses across the state, including the flagship university in Baton Rouge.
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And the most commonly cited name is Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne.
A lifelong resident of Baton Rouge, Dardenne was student body president during his years at LSU in the 1970s. He is the former lieutenant governor and now serves as Edwards’ chief budget architect and financial adviser.
Edwards said he heard the rumor for the first time Thursday.
“That is not a conversation that Jay and I have ever had,” Edwards said about Dardenne assuming the university presidency. “I can tell you he’s doing a great job as commissioner of administration. But I’m not going to go beyond that.”
Dardenne told The Advocate on Friday the rumors became so widespread that he spoke to Alexander to assure the president that he didn’t start them, doesn’t know where they came from and wasn’t trying to profit from them.
“I’m not angling for this and have not expressed interest,” Dardenne said about the top LSU job. “The board has confidence in King, and I have confidence in the board.”
