OU provost to step down

NORMAN — Provost Kyle Harper will step down at the University of Oklahoma to return to a teaching position among the faculty.

The transition will be effective July 1. Harper has been OU's top academic administrator since 2014.

Students demanded Harper's resignation during a hunger strike and sit-in in February. More than 100 protesters filled OU's administration building and issued a list of demands for institutional changes.

Tensions ignited after two professors separately used the N-word in class. Students questioned Harper's dedication to diversity and inclusion, and they said he should have been more vocal when two faculty members used the racial slur.

OU President Joe Harroz said at the time he could not “engage the demand” for Harper's resignation. The protest ended after three days when students and administrators agreed on other requests, including a new student advisory committee for the president and provost's office.

Harper asked to return to teaching more than a year ago, Harroz said.

The president requested he remain as provost to hire several key academic leadership positions and to finish the university's strategic plan, the president said in an announcement on Wednesday.

“He put the institution's interests ahead of his own and agreed to see through this important phase of the University's transition,” Harroz said.

Academic programs at the Norman campus enjoyed “immense growth and success” during Harper's six-year tenure as provost, and the OU's retention and graduation rates improved, the president said.

Senior Vice Provost Jill Irvine will become interim provost. Irvine is the founder of OU's Center for Social Justice and is a professor of international and area studies.

Harper will act as a senior advisor to Irvine and will help implement the university's strategic plan.

OU will immediately launch a national search for a permanent candidate.

Harper will focus on teaching and his own studies as a faculty member. He has taught courses on ancient history and early Christianity. He is nearly finished writing a book on the global history of infectious diseases, Harroz said.