The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees met on Friday where they discussed the newly appointed dean of the law school.
UK announced Gregory Van Tatenhove as the new dean of the Rosenberg College of Law in March. Van Tatenhove has been a federal judge for the eastern district of Kentucky since 2005.
On Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear made comments on social media criticizing recent personnel decisions by UK. He claimed the choice to appoint Van Tatenhove was not approved by law school faculty and approval of the appointment should come from the Board of Trustees.
UK President Eli Capilouto spent most of his remarks in the meeting discussing the appointment of Van Tatenhove, who attended the law school.
“It was a strong field, all well qualified, but Judge Van Tatenhove offered a stern vision, a reverence for the college that taught him, and a commitment to our faculty and our students and our community that I felt was unparalleled,” Capiluoto said. “He is leaving a distinguished career already and a lifetime appointment to serve the college he loves and help it move forward at a time of real change and challenge.”
Capilouto said the American Bar Association standards, which accredit the Rosenberg College of Law, do not exist to give a group of faculty veto power on decisions and that those standards are why the search committee included many stakeholders.
One of the stakeholders included alumni such as Charles “Buzz” English, who currently stands as the chair of the ABA’s Finance and Audit Committee. English, a lawyer from Bowling Green, said he personally felt that Van Tatenhove was the strongest candidate for the dean position.
“There have been issues raised about whether there were outside influence,” English said. “I can tell you, on behalf of the visiting committee, we met this morning, and we discussed this issue thoroughly. We saw no outside political influence in this decision. It was an open process. We were all given opportunities to provide our comments to the provost about this process.”
After Capiluoto and English spoke, Board of Trustees Chair E. Britt Brockman opened the floor to questions from other trustees.
“This issue has exposed the need, I believe, to review and improve upon our governing rules and improve our process of shared governance,” trustee L. Clark Williams said.
Trustee Jim Gray filed a motion that would adjust and revise the university’s governing standards to allow for a Board of Trustees vote on future appointments like the law school dean. Gray said the proposal was about upholding standards.
“These shared governance standards are often cumbersome and troublesome, like democracy, but they have proven, over time, to be essential to institutional stability, credibility and progress,” Gray said. “Once seated, once advocated and given away, it's a slippery slope and tough to recover, so this motion is also about transparency.”
Other trustees spoke on the issue and their support for the process and President Capilouto.. The motion passed with only one vote against.
Trustees Chair Brockman said after the vote that these criticisms should be viewed as challenges to make the board better serve the university.
“I'm still indebted to this university,” Brockman said. “It has always done more for me than I could ever do for it. I suspect that will always be the case, and I know many of you feel the same way. That debt, what we owe, should always compel us to be willing to look at ourselves, to reflect, to ask questions and to be willing to admit when we fall short. That is how I try to understand and think about criticisms when they're made, and it is ultimately how I have come to view the recent comments by Governor Beshear about this university, our leadership and our decisions.”
