It was a sad day on campus Monday as the news quickly spread that President F. King Alexander had been recommended as the sole finalist for the job of chancellor and president of the Louisiana State University system.
While Alexander still needs to visit the LSU campus and be approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors, we believe it is highly probable that he will accept the job if he is offered it.
In his new position, Alexander will have the chance to be in charge of a another well-respected institution that is struggling financially due to major cutbacks. It sounds awfully familiar to what is happening at Cal State Long Beach.
LSU Director of Media Relations Ernie Ballard said via email that the new president of LSU would get to make decisions on the new structure and makeup of the entire system.
Who would be a better candidate to help straighten out the LSU ship than Alexander?
It was Alexander who represented the Cal State University a few years ago when he met with President Barack Obama and advised him on the desperate need to keep universities affordable and attainable for all students. It was Alexander who spoke so eloquently about the troubling times the CSU system would face if Proposition 30 didn’t pass. It was Alexander who fundraised money for our school. It was Alexander who was voted twice by the California State Student Association for the President of the Year Award.
And it will be Alexander who this campus will sorely miss if he ends up heading to Baton Rouge, La.
Alexander was always personable and easy to talk to. He responded to our reporters’ requests for comments in a timely fashion. Alexander has been an influential leader in this institution, and it is tough to imagine a CSULB without his presence.
It would be selfish of us to beg him not to go, to tell him that we still need him.
But just as Alexander has shook many CSULB graduates’ hands as they pass into the next stage of their lives, we will do the same for him.
It is the least we can do for his years of running this institution.
We will bid him a similar goodbye and thank him, wishing him the best of luck.
