Interim University President B. Joseph White will not publicly announce whether he will toss his hat into the candidate pool for the next University president.
- Paul Wong
- White
White announced last semester that he planned to inform the search committee of his decision to apply for the permanent position as University president in January but has not yet discussed the matter with the committee.
“As I indicated earlier, at some point in the process I will communicate my intentions to the Presidential Search Committee and Presidential Search Advisory Committee,” White said in a written statement released Friday.
He said the University Board of Regents, which is acting as the search committee, has asked him to keep quiet with any decision he makes regarding the vacant presidential position and that he will comply with the request.
“Those committees have asked me to make no comment about my candidacy due to their firm commitment to confidentiality for all elements of the search process,” White said in the statement. “I respect their wishes, and their commitment to the integrity of the search, and will not discuss this matter publicly.”
Regent David Brandon (RAnn Arbor) said the committee did not request White to refrain from commenting on his potential candidacy because they believed it would hinder his ability to serve as interim president or deter other candidates.
“The Presidential Search Committee is deeply concerned about the confidentiality of the search process. Consequently they felt to maintain the highest level of confidentiality at this stage would be a benefit,” Brandon said.
“The search consultant and the Presidential Search Committee felt at this stage the search recruitment process would be helped in putting together a pool of candidate if there was a quiet period,” said Regent Larry Deitch (D-Bingham Farms).