Yesterday William Tate IV was named as the next president of LSU.
When he begins his term in July, he will be the first Black president of a university in the Southeastern Conference.
Now the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at University of South Carolina, Tate also holds the USC Education Foundation Distinguished Professorship.
Tate will take over as the university deals with the mishandling of sexual assault and violence allegations on campus. LSU law professor Tom Galligan served as the university’s president on an interim basis since January 2020. The last person to serve in the permanent role was F. King Alexander, who left LSU for a job as president at Oregon State University. He recently resigned from that job, however, amid critical backlash over his time at LSU. King’s leadership was repeatedly called into question in a study the LSU Board of Supervisors launched in November to determine how sexual assault and violence allegations were handled on campus and whether the university complied with federal civil rights law. The law firm Husch Blackwell was hired to conduct the study after a USA Today investigative report revealed multiple complaints against LSU football players Derrius Guice and Drake Davis were not directed as required to the university’s Title IX office.
The LSU Board of Supervisors vote to name Tate as next president was unanimous.
