Rodney D. Bennett will, in all likelihood, become the 21st chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln when the Board of Regents votes on his appointment on June 22.
Bennett, who led the University of Southern Mississippi for 10 years, is the priority candidate for the position, the only contender for the job leading the University of Nebraska’s flagship institution. Bennett's name was released under a state law that removed the requirement of public consideration of four finalists.
That change remains regrettable. But, after a week of public forums and private conversations with UNL students, faculty, staff, the general public and community organizations such as the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Bennett appears to be perfectly suited to succeed Ronnie Green, who is retiring June 30.
Bennett, 52, would become the first African American to lead UNL and one of the first high-level Black administrators in the university system, a long-needed breakthrough for NU. And he will bring a decade’s experience in running a university in a conservative state.
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To that end, he will be well-positioned to deal with political issues around free speech and academic freedom and will push UNL to “lean into” diversity, equity and inclusion to make the campus welcoming for all.
"Each of us are made better when there are people who are around us that think different, that believe different, look different and challenge us to sincerely and genuinely embrace our differences," he said during his Lincoln visit.
Bennett’s fiscal management skills, which he delineated for the chamber, will be of great value as he will face the daunting task of cutting some $13 million from the UNL budget in the next year. Wisely, Bennett, who faced similar budget cuts at Southern Mississippi, would not speculate on the areas to be cut before he closely examines the budget.
But he did say that as UNL faces more budget shortfalls in succeeding years, it may have to move from being “all things for all people,” raising the possibility of cutting academic programs with few students and ending underutilized services — decisions that need to be made very carefully.
Importantly, Bennett said he intends to foster a culture of transparency between administrators and faculty, agreeing to disagree over some issues and to be a “genuine, ongoing and inspirational presence” on campus, including mentoring of students. That transparency, we hope, will also be extended to the off-campus community.
Finally, it is heartening to hear that Bennett wants to work to get UNL back into the Association of American Universities. Voted out of the AAU in 2011 because of its failure to meet certain criteria, including the amount of research on campus, previous UNL chancellors have moved on from membership in the prestigious organization.
If he’s able to do so, gaining AAU membership would help with student and faculty recruitment and retention, boost research funding and will generate excitement among donors and the business community.
It would also be a step forward for UNL, restoring it to the level of America’s top universities, a worthy goal for the man who will soon become chancellor.