Student demands for clear answers are rejected by the TU Board of Trustees.
The search for a new university president has been a controversial and chaotic one since the start. In May of 2025, Brad Carson announced his retirement as the 21st president of the University of Tulsa in the form of a lengthy social media post on X. He explained that he intended upon leaving his position to lead two organizations, “Americans for Responsible Innovation and the Center of Responsible Innovation,” in Washington D.C that focus on artificial intelligence policy. Since June, Rick Dickson, a TU alumn, previous director of athletics and UTulsa vice president, has served as interim president. While Dickson has certainly fulfilled his temporary position’s responsibilities and expectations, students and faculty have questioned the school administration’s lack of transparency regarding the presidential search.
Acquiring clear answers about the search has been no new struggle. Throughout September-November of last semester, widespread rumors circled suggesting that Representative Kevin Hern was in the running for TU president with financial incentives from Mike Case. The Board of Trustees denied claims about Case’s alleged $100 million offer, but no other information was disclosed regarding the presidential race. This raised weary inquisition from members of the TU community. The school board provided minimal, opaque responses to community pleas for clarity. This enraged many, considering Hern’s lack of experience in the realm of education, his openly anti-liberal arts rhetoric, and MAGA-centric, conservative political ideology. After the formation of a ‘Hurricane Against Hern’ group chat with 300+ members, a protest between McFarlin Library and Kendall Hall on Oct. 23, 2025, and many calls to Representative Hern, it was eventually communicated that the Board of Trustees selected four finalists, none of whom were Kevin Hern.
The University of Tulsa’s continued lack of transparency has frustrated many students and faculty members. When asked on Jan. 29, 2026 by The Collegian for a loose timeline containing when the public can expect access to the information that the Board has regarding the presidential search and final candidates, Mona Chamberlin, the university’s Senior Media Relations & Editorial Director, responded, “As a private university, search details are confidential. There is no timeline for a decision or an announcement at this point. We will not release the names of job candidates.” This comes in contradiction to previous statements made by the university spokesperson.
Previously, Chamberlin assured TU students and staff that the school’s administration was “committed to communicating about the presidential search,” even pointing to a Sept. 16 State of the University forum hosted by the Student Government Association as an example of the administration “keeping the lines of communication open.”
The Collegian interviewed a few TU students to hear their thoughts on the Board of Trustees’ lack of transparency regarding the presidential search.
“I went to a private high school in Texas, and even there we were more privy to important leadership related information. During my school’s presidential searches, all of the potential candidates would have the opportunity to come and do a Q&A with the student body. The school remained transparent during the search, which I wish was the case at TU. The people who are most affected by these decisions are students, who vastly outnumber the professors. They should have knowledge about the presidential candidates and their goals. We go to a small institution for a reason; we should have a voice in this process. We [the students] are not trying to fight, we are trying to be heard and stay informed,” said Aadit Mehta, a freshman Exercise and Sports Science and accelerated premed double major.
“This has been such a secretive process. The student body has no idea who the current candidates are. That level of ‘keeping it on the down-low’ is creating apathy, which I believe is a bad thing,” said Gaspard L. Dupin, a first-year, French international student and Business major.
The presidential search is ongoing, and many students and faculty members are growing increasingly concerned with their lack of knowledge about the final four candidates. After the push-back from the Hurricane community in response to Hern’s alleged candidacy, the Board of Trustees has continued to remain secretive about the search. It has now been eight months since Brad Carson’s resignation, and TU still has no long-term president nor is there publicly available information that explicitly states when the next president will finally be selected. It seems that is for the Board of Trustees to know and for the students of the University of Tulsa to find out.
