University Of Hawaii Regents Choose New President
UPDATES: Wendy Hensel, who will succeed David Lassner as UH’s leader, vowed to “be a partner” with Native Hawaiians and other student groups.
Wendy Hensel was selected Thursday to be the next president of the University of Hawaii’s 10-campus system, despite concerns about complaints by a law professor during her previous job at Georgia State University.
The UH Board of Regents unanimously chose Hensel, the provost of the City University of New York, over Julian Vasquez Heilig, provost of Western Michigan University.
Hensel brings to the job high-level administrative experience at large research institutions, having served as provost of Georgia State University and CUNY, one of the nation’s largest university systems with .
At a news conference following the Board of Regents vote, Hensel promised to remove barriers to student success and work with industry to prepare students for high-paying jobs, which she said she has done at CUNY.
She also vowed to work with Native Hawaiians and other ethnic groups.
“The message is that I’m here to be a partner,” she said. “I’m here, yes, to be a leader, but also to walk beside the community.”
Hensel’s initial three-year contract provides for an annual salary of $675,000, plus a $7,000 per month housing allowance. Lee said that was at the low end of compensation for presidents of universities the size of UH. She also gets a $60,000 moving allowance.
The vote to hire Hensel followed closed-door interviews with Hensel and Vasquez Heilig on Wednesday. The regents continued their closed-door meeting to discuss the candidates on Thursday before emerging to announce Hensel.
While Vasquez Heilig has served in leadership roles at large universities like the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Kentucky, his position as a top administrator amounts to less than two years at Western Michigan. Gabe Lee, chair of the 11-member board, cited Vasquez Heilig’s relative lack of experience when explaining the selection of Hensel.
In a statement, Vasquez Heilig thanked those who supported his application.
“Although I was not selected for the presidency, I remain deeply appreciative of the overwhelming community support from student groups, faculty, the Native Hawaiian Puko’a Council and many other stakeholders,” he said.
Regents described an exhaustive vetting process that narrowed a field of more than 90 applicants to the two finalists.
However, reporting by Civil Beat found documents showing that Hensel had been the subject of complaints of mistreatment by a Black law professor while Hensel was provost of Georgia State. Hensel denied being the subject of any such complaints. The professor, Tanya Washington, and her lawyer said Hensel was lying.
During Thursday’s press conference, Hensel again said she had done nothing wrong.
“I say again clearly that there is no truth to these claims,” Hensel said.
Regardless, those issues appeared to have little effect on the regents. In fact, more than one regent cited the way Hensel faced the recent concerns when they were raised.
“Wendy Hensel’s not only speaking about courage, but demonstrating courage, demonstrating grace under fire,” said , the regents vice chair and former associate dean of the William S. Richardson School of Law.
Lassner, who has served at the helm since 2013 and has an annual salary of $409,704 is retiring at the end of the year.
UH has campuses and educational centers across the state, including seven community colleges, two community universities — UH West Oahu and UH Hilo — and the flagship campus UH Manoa.
The system employs more than 9,000 people and . About half of that comes from state general funds appropriated by the Legislature, which has occasionally led to rocky relations between legislators and Lassner.
If Hensel decides she doesn’t like being UH president, she’s been given a tenured faculty position at the law school to fall back on.
During her first, short speech in what the new UH president called her first day on the job, Hensel gave no hint of a desire to retreat back to teaching and writing law review papers. Instead, she focused on a theme of partnership.
“I look forward to learning from all of you on this path, and I promise I will be a partner and working tirelessly to advance and elevate the university’s unique role as an indigenous inspired institution,” she said. “I am committed to uplifting and honoring the Native Hawaiian values on which it is based and eliminating all equity gaps, both for this and every group.”
