Jon Ralston on the chancellor’s role in hiring a new UNLV president

Friday, May 12, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.

The UNLV presidential search committee folks probably aren't thrilled.

The faculty - at least in part - is upset. And, yet, the regents - and their boss - no doubt are euphoric.

When a subcommittee of the Board of Regents voted unanimously this week to recommend Lt. Gen. Bill Lennox to succeed Carol Harter as UNLV president - presaging a ratifying vote next week - the members chose a candidate who was not the first choice of the dozens of folks who made up a search committee.

But even though Chancellor Jim Rogers said he would have been happy with any of the three finalists, my guess is the man who wields more power in the education system than anyone in state annals no doubt is ecstatic that Lennox will succeed the woman he forced from her job.

Lennox, the superintendent of West Point, received only 11 votes from that search panel while Marvin Krislov, the University of Michigan lawyer, and David Ashley, the University of California-Merced provost, had 23 and 24 votes, respectively. So it was no surprise some of the selection committee members were irked.

But this is not - as many will assume - merely about Rogers pushing his subordinates - excuse me, the regents - to choose Lennox, who may be just the kind of guy the chancellor wants to clean house at UNLV. This is also about some members of the board believing Lennox was the superior contender.

"The regents liked Lennox," said one insider familiar with how the votes came down. "It wasn't because of Rogers. If Rogers thinks he can manipulate this guy, he is wrong. He is a three-star general (who), I don't think, will bow down to Jim Rogers. The other two candidates would have been more easily manipulated."

Remember, too, that Lennox was the only sitting president of the three finalists, and some regents believed Krislov would have been, as one person put it, "walked all over by the academic community." Krislov, at 45, also was significantly younger than Lennox, who is 56, and that hurt him, too.

As for Ashley, the leap from provost to president was seen as a little much. "I don't know if he would be as effective at fundraising and shaking things up a little bit," one insider said. "He is a great provost, but the move up to president is a big step, and I am not totally sure that he is ready yet. I don't know if UNLV is the kind of university that a president should have as their first presidency."

Lennox doesn't have a lot of teaching history, but his academic credentials are impressive. He has a doctorate in literature from Princeton ( Harter's background also is in English), and you have to believe that his military background endeared him to some of the regents - and Rogers, too.

Indeed, Lord Jim now has accomplished his immediate goals for a system he has described as a heart of darkness - install new presidents at the state's universities - and now he can concentrate on a medical science complex. Rogers knows he needs presidents who will cooperate on that endeavor, and he probably thinks he has them now. Then the chancellor can focus on the more global end of boosting the system's credibility in the nation's eyes.

We will soon see whether a lieutenant general and a self-proclaimed dictator are marching together or crossing swords.

One more Rogers note: He has been keeping a relatively low profile lately, but that is about to change. The chancellor recently sought an opinion from the system's legal counsel about whether he can take positions on ballot initiatives. He basically received a green light this week, providing he uses no public funds in expressing those opinions.

Now what ballot questions could Rogers be interested in speaking out about this year? My guess is the plural is not needed. I think he is focused on the TASC at hand.