For more than six decades, Louisiana Tech University has enjoyed something increasingly rare in higher education.
Stability. Continuity. And presidents who fought for Louisiana Tech.
Beginning with F. Jay Taylor and continuing through Dan Reneau, Les Guice and Jim Henderson, Tech’s last four presidents have had strong connections to the university, doctoral degrees and extensive experience in higher education.
They had different personalities and faced different challenges. They led Louisiana Tech during vastly different eras. But they shared something critically important.
They understood Louisiana Tech. More importantly, they believed in Louisiana Tech.
As Dr. Henderson prepares to retire at the end of this calendar year after three years as president, the University of Louisiana System will soon begin the process of identifying the 16th president in Tech’s history.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of getting this decision right. Louisiana Tech doesn’t simply need a qualified president. It needs the right president.
There is a difference.
This is an institution with more than 130 years of history, a proud tradition of academic and research excellence and an athletic brand that has carried the Louisiana Tech name across the country for generations.
It has generations of alumni who care passionately about its future, a loyal fan base, dedicated faculty and staff, and students who deserve a president who understands what makes Louisiana Tech special.
The next president must fit that institution and the community it calls home.
The importance of this hire extends well beyond the boundaries of campus.
Ruston has experienced significant growth and investment in recent years, and the fortunes of the city and university have long been intertwined. Louisiana Tech is one of Ruston’s largest economic engines, but its impact goes far beyond jobs and dollars. The university helps attract businesses, families and visitors, while Ruston’s growth and quality of life are increasingly important assets for Tech in recruiting students, faculty and staff.
The next president should understand that partnership and be willing to work with local government, business leaders and community organizations to build upon the momentum both Louisiana Tech and Ruston have created.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the person must be a Louisiana Tech graduate. Henderson wasn’t. But his family’s connection to the university dates back more than 80 years, when his father came to Ruston to play football for legendary coach Joe Aillet. His mother was a two-time Tech graduate.
Dr. Taylor, Dr. Reneau and Dr. Guice had their own deep ties to the university.
That connection has mattered.
The next president should hold an earned doctorate and have substantial experience in higher education. This is a doctoral research university with significant academic and research ambitions. Its president must understand academics, research, enrollment, accreditation, fundraising, student life and the increasingly competitive landscape of higher education.
But a degree and an impressive résumé aren’t enough.
Louisiana Tech needs someone who wants to lead Louisiana Tech.
Someone who understands its culture and traditions. Someone who recognizes the importance of athletics to the university’s identity and national visibility. Someone who will listen to faculty and staff, engage students, connect with alumni and donors, and embrace a fan base that cares deeply about this university.
And someone willing to fight for Louisiana Tech when Louisiana Tech needs fighting for.
Dr. Henderson has provided a recent example of what that means.
He has praised Gov. Jeff Landry and state lawmakers when Louisiana Tech has received significant support from Baton Rouge. At the same time, Dr. Henderson and other Tech administrators have been willing to question a state funding model they believe does not adequately reward some of the very outcomes Louisiana says it values — graduation, retention, enrollment growth and timely degree completion.
A strong president should be able to thank Baton Rouge when Louisiana Tech is supported and challenge Baton Rouge when Louisiana Tech has a legitimate case to make.
Those two things are not mutually exclusive. They are leadership.
The next president must be capable of building relationships without becoming beholden to them and cooperating without surrendering independence.
Louisiana Tech needs a president who can work with Baton Rouge. But when necessary, Louisiana Tech also needs a president willing to stand up for Ruston.
That is why the coming presidential search deserves intense scrutiny from everyone who cares about Louisiana Tech.
Faculty and staff should be watching. Students should be watching. Alumni and donors should be watching. Fans should be watching.
And Ruston and Lincoln Parish should be watching.
Pay attention to the process. Pay attention to the qualifications established for the position. Pay attention to who serves on the search committee, who applies and who advances. Pay attention to whether Louisiana Tech and the Ruston community are given meaningful opportunities to participate.
Louisiana Tech deserves no less.
That isn’t an accusation that politics will interfere with the selection of Louisiana Tech’s next president. It is a declaration that politics must not interfere with or dictate it.
This should be considered one of the premier leadership positions in the University of Louisiana System. The search, and ultimate decision, should reflect that.
The objective cannot be finding the most politically convenient candidate. It cannot be finding someone willing to simply follow the wishes of people in Baton Rouge or accept a predetermined vision of where Louisiana Tech belongs within the hierarchy of public higher education in this state.
The objective must be finding the best person to lead Louisiana Tech University.
Louisiana does not have to diminish one university for another to prosper. There is room in this state for multiple universities to pursue greater research prominence, stronger academic reputations, enrollment growth, athletic success and national recognition.
Louisiana Tech should never be expected to temper those ambitions.
Quite the opposite.
Its next president should embrace them.
Louisiana Tech’s president must work productively with Gov. Landry, the Legislature, the UL System Board of Supervisors and the Board of Regents. Relationships matter. Cooperation matters.
But Louisiana Tech’s president works for Louisiana Tech.
There will be times when everyone’s interests align. There may be times when they don’t. When they don’t, Tech needs a president with the credibility, courage and independence to respectfully and forcefully make this university’s case.
For the last six decades, Louisiana Tech has boasted presidents who did exactly that.
The next president must do it, too.
This isn’t simply another opening to fill.
The UL System Board of Supervisors will ultimately be entrusted with selecting the next leader of an institution that has spent generations building an identity, culture and record of academic and athletic excellence that mean something deeply personal to thousands upon thousands of people.
Gov. Landry, state higher education leaders and others with influence over Louisiana higher education also have a responsibility to ensure that Louisiana Tech’s best interests — not politics — remain at the center of that process.
Louisiana Tech deserves the right fit, the right leader and the right voice on the 16th floor of Wyly Tower.
All eyes should be on this process. Louisiana Tech alumni, faculty, staff, students and fans should consider reaching out to their representatives at the state level, including the governor and senator, to politely inform them they are watching and actively engaged in this process.
The Louisiana Tech family cannot afford for those entrusted with this decision to get it wrong.
The Lincoln Parish Journal is owned and published by Malcolm Butler, Dr. Judith Roberts and Kyle Roberts.
