Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Sun Editorial:

Before rash action, regents should hear out Jessup’s defenders

Presidential Debate Rally at UNLV

Sam Morris/Las Vegas News Bureau

UNLV President Len Jessup speaks to a reporter during a rally at UNLV to promote the upcoming Presidential debate which will take place on campus at the Thomas & Mack Center Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016.

With this week’s shocking revelation that UNLV President Len Jessup was in discussions to possibly leave the campus by the end of the semester, it’s impossible to say how Jessup’s future might play out in coming weeks and months. UNLV could be on the verge of losing the most effective president in its 60-year history.

But one thing is imperative: Any public discussion that might occur about his job performance must be held in Las Vegas and not in Reno.

That’s because Jessup’s many supporters deserve an opportunity to voice their opinions about him to Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Thom Reilly and the state Board of Regents. Holding a public hearing in Las Vegas would allow for that. Holding it in Reno would make it unreasonably difficult and would clearly be an attempt to dodge Jessup’s defenders both from within UNLV and from our community.

Reilly and the regents owe it to UNLV and Southern Nevada to encourage public comment, because an early departure by Jessup would have enormous ramifications for the university and the region.

Jessup would be the fourth UNLV president since 2006 to be fired or forced out, which not only has left the university in disarray for much of the last 12 years but would undoubtedly cause qualified candidates for the presidency to think twice before applying.

UNLV’s progress during the three years of Jessup’s leadership — marked by such highlights as enrolling the first class of medical school students, cutting a deal to use the Raiders stadium, setting records in fundraising and going over the 30,000 mark in enrollment — would be halted amid the lengthy process of finding another president and getting that person’s team up to speed.

When he was hired, Jessup requested an evaluation three years into his five-year contract. He hit the three-year mark in January.

Until this week, only those who pay rapt attention to the Board of Regents might have guessed that his three-year review would result in anything but glowing remarks. And even those who were aware that some members of the board had voiced criticisms about UNLV and Jessup may have been surprised to learn this week that the concerns were serious enough to warrant a firing.

After all, the ouster of a university president often comes amid a public outcry over some type of scandal.

Maybe there’s been serious criminal behavior involving the administration or staff, as was the case in January at Michigan State University. Maybe the president was discovered to be spending lavishly or inappropriately, as was the case in June when the Northern Illinois University president was ousted after state budget watchdogs discovered his administration had skirted ethics requirements to hire highly paid consultants and later bring them aboard in posh campus jobs. Maybe the president was caught in an outrageous public lie, as was the case in September when it was revealed that the University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s leader had left campus ahead of Hurricane Irma but had insinuated to her boss in an email that she was still at the university as the storm bore down on the students who were still there.

There’s been nothing like that at UNLV. The only outcry is from influential members of the community who are convinced that Jessup is exactly the leader UNLV needs.

Arguably the most serious issue that has come up was the university’s reaction to its discovery last September that a dentist in its School of Dental Medicine had reused a piece of equipment intended for single use.

Regent Trevor Hayes questioned the timeliness of UNLV’s response and credited the NSHE for “getting to the bottom of it.”

UNLV said it launched an investigation immediately after becoming aware of the situation and sent a note to faculty, staff and students reiterating the need to follow best practices, which would include not reinstalling single-use equipment and instruments. The university said it received the results of its investigation the week before the issue became public.

Asked Tuesday via email for details of NSHE’s involvement and if Hayes’ statement was accurate, NSHE hadn’t answered the queries as of Wednesday afternoon.

Absent a real scandal, Jessup’s detractors are left to mutter about relatively minor problems. They forget that improving large-scale, complex institutions like UNLV is a process that takes time and doesn’t always happen without missteps along the way.

Jessup has developed a vocal and committed group of supporters through his actions both on and off-campus, where he’s served on a number of community boards.

Those people deserve an audience with the regents before there’s any movement to push him out.