Early exit? Jessup’s uncertain future at UNLV alarms supporters
UNLV President Len Jessup and Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Thom Reilly have been in discussions over the past several weeks about Jessup leaving the university, perhaps as soon as the end of this semester, sources close to the situation said.
Jessup, who is three years into a fiveyear contract, has faced criticism from some members of the Nevada Board of Regents over several management issues at UNLV. Those include cost overruns from the 2016 presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center, fundraising for the UNLV Medical School building and, most recently, the university’s response to the discovery that a dentist in its School of Dental Medicine had reused equipment intended for single-use in performing dozens of dental implants.
Neither Jessup nor Reilly would discuss news reports that emerged Tuesday saying Jessup’s resignation was imminent. But sources said the two had been involved in ongoing discussions over Jessup’s exit.
Tuesday’s development capped what have been several uneasy, infuriating weeks for Jessup’s supporters in Southern Nevada.
Uneasy because of rumors that a faction within the Nevada Board of Regents was seeking to oust him.
Infuriating because they believed Jessup was being criticized by the regents when he should have been receiving praise for leading the university to a string of successes and putting it on a pathway to becoming the state’s most prestigious institution of higher education.
“This is a man who could transform this community if only the regents would get out of his way,” a significant UNLV donor said.
During interviews over the past three weeks, the donor and others offered several theories about why the regents were targeting Jessup. Some suspect it’s a matter of Nevada’s north-south political rivalry and what they contend is a long history of UNLV being undercut to the benefit of UNR. Some say it happened because Jessup’s critics on the board have overblown a couple of missteps he has made in dealing with them.
But they say pushing Jessup out after three years on the job threatens to knock the university off track in its goal of becoming a top-level research institution. It would, they say, create a chilling effect in attracting talented leaders to replace Jessup and his team, throw fundraising commitments into question and disrupt relationships that Jessup has been building with community organizations and civic leaders.
One regent, J.T. Moran III, said he was dismayed by the way some of his colleagues had treated Jessup.
“If you start with the idea that no one is perfect, the way I look at Len Jessup’s accomplishments over the three short years that he has been at UNLV is with a high degree of respect and admiration for this most talented leader,” he said. “What
Analysis: Jessup’s uncertain future at UNLV alarms supporters.
Jessup, who is three years into a five-year contract, has faced criticism from some members of the Nevada Board of Regents over several management issues at UNLV.
NCAA Tournament by the odds: Vegas picks and preview of the West Region. Ex-con accused of using blackface in casino robbery.
Every team in the West appears to be inscrutable in its own way.
A 26-year-old man who served prison time for bank robbery is accused of covering his face with dark makeup during an armed robbery of a New York-new York cashier in January.
Rocker and Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell is set to bring an unconventional dream to reality with a new Las Vegas entertainment venue.
New augmented reality experience coming to the Strip. Suspect in beating death of homeless man slept near crime scene for days, police say.
Damon Echols, 23, is scheduled to appear in front of a judge on Monday morning, jail logs show.