Dive Brief:

• Michigan State University’s board of trustees selected former Michigan Governor John Engler to serve as its interim president while the college navigates the legal and reputational fallout from a sexual abuse scandal, involving university physician Larry Nassar and over 160 women, reports the Wall Street Journal. 
• Athletic Director Mark Hollis has retired and local lawmakers and community leaders have called for the board of trustees to resign. Additionally, one trustee called for the university’s legal counsel to resign. 
• Meanwhile, Michigan’s attorney general has opened an investigation into the university’s handling of sexual abuse complaints against Mr. Nassar and is seeking information about other university officials and trustees. The state’s legislature is also probing the incident and has threatened to subpoena information.

Dive Insight:

Engler joins a long roster of high profile politicians and elected officials chosen to lead universities and colleges, including former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, who now heads Purdue University and spearheaded the groundbreaking Purdue-Kaplan deal. Governors and elected leaders, in particular, are natural choices for the top university post, because they know the political lay of land and can navigate community dynamics, in addition to being attuned to the needs of the state. Elected officials likely have fundraising experience to match the expectation for university presidents to plan and execute ambitious fundraising goals. Ultimately, the job involves a lot of politicking as presidents are the university’s voice before state assemblies and Congress.  

However, politicians can also carry baggage from their past public life, making it harder for them to win over some allies. And there is no universal metric pointing to politicians as better — or worse — leaders than anyone else. The only way to evaluate fit for a specific campus is for boards to conduct a full and complete presidential search that takes into account various needs and stakeholders. There is a growing school of thought that a strong provost can make up for any lack of academic experience a potential leader may have, but universities and colleges are unlike any other business or government offices, and any leader appointed must be closely attuned to the needs of all of the campus stakeholders.