Thursday, June 29, 2023 | 8:32 p.m.
A committee within the Board of Regents is recommending Lawrence Drake II as the next chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
The committee voted 4-1 today in favor of Drake, sending their recommendation to the full Board of Regents for a Friday vote.
Drake is the interim president at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., according to his resume submitted to the board. He also was previously the CEO of Coca-Cola Africa from 1979 to 2007.
“(The chancellor) is a CEO, someone who can run a company; someone who can manage over 100,000 employees; a person that can manage and multitask; who can communicate, deliver a message and deliver a message in a manner in which is not gonna be argumentative, abrasive, come across with cantankerousness; a person who’s gonna be cool and get the job done; someone who’s gonna lead,” Regent Joseph Arrascada said. “And we have that with us here today.”
Kate Marshall, the former Nevada Treasurer, and Charles Ansell — the former CEO of the Community College System of New Hampshire — are the other finalists. They each live in Reno.
They are vying to replace acting chancellor Dale Erquiaga.
Erquiaga has been on the job since July 1, 2022, when he took over for Melody Rose. Rose stepped down after 19 months into a four-year contract she signed in 2020 and received a $610,000 separation package.
Rose’s resignation came shortly after the conclusion of a third-party investigation into hostile-workplace allegations she lodged against Regents Chair Cathy McAdoo and Vice Chair Patrick Carter, whom she accused of gender discrimination, intimidation and retaliation in an orchestrated effort to drive her away.
The investigators found insufficient evidence to support Rose’s legal claims but fell far short of giving the regents a clean bill of health, instead noting that the board had engaged in unprofessional behavior, was factionalized politically and had possibly committed ethical violations.
William Robinson, a UNLV business professor, faculty senate chair and advisory member, referred to some of the past alleged gender-biased issues within the Board of Regents that led Rose to resign last March.
Drake believes “there’s more positives than there are negatives” in Nevada and that the board could create a “more equitable environment” by focusing less on outcomes and more on being open-minded in finding solutions.
“I think everybody has to decide — meaning a body, meaning the system — what they’re doing well and what they’re not doing so well and then work really hard to continue to do it better,” Drake said during the meeting. “I think if we’re doing that every day, then I think we’re doing what the citizens of Nevada want and I think what we would be serving is the interest of all of those who represent this state.”
The search began with 87 applicants from across the U.S. and outside countries, all of which went through “a very rigorous” screening process, according to The Bryan Group. The consulting service in senior leader recruiting, evaluation and development was hired to find candidates.
Some on the committee admitted they didn’t feel any of the three finalist candidates were a good fit.
Some of the main concerns were the lack of attention to research, specifically in expanding the state’s many different research institutions, and “NSHE-wide concerns and integration mechanisms to address the very different institutes that we have within NSHE.”
At one point, some members even suggested appointing another interim chancellor from within NSHE and extending the chancellor search.
“I came into this process very hopeful,” Regent Amy Carvalho, who has been part of five other chancellor searches, said. “I will say, in terms of the process, this search was very different than any other search I’ve been in, and this search is the first time we’ve had any issue where we might not push forward with a nominee.”
Others, like Regents Stephanie Goodman and Laura Perkins, sang their praises of Drake while acknowledging that the process was “flawed” and “terrible” due to the NSHE policy that dictates it.
“Because we are flawed individuals, there’s no one that’s going to fit every single checkbox that we have,” Regent Perkins, a member of the Regents’ Committee, said. “But to me, Dr. Drake seems like the best possible fit.”
