After a monthlong process, the search committee tasked with finding a replacement for OU President David Boren has completed all interviews of potential candidates.
After reviewing more than 70 applications for the job of university president and interviewing a smaller and undisclosed number of candidates, the committee is on track to present its list of candidates by March 1, as anticipated, said committee spokesperson David Rainbolt.
“I absolutely think that we will turn over several candidates with diverse skill sets that would be capable of being outstanding presidents for the University of Oklahoma,” Rainbolt said.
Rainbolt said the committee is currently compiling the information on those finalists and transmitting that information to the Board of Regents, which will then begin the process of selecting OU’s next president.
Though he said he could not confirm specifics about the finalists, including the total number of candidates interviewed, Rainbolt said he was confident in the finalists and, more importantly, in the work conducted by the committee over the course of the search process.
“I was disappointed in no one,” Rainbolt said. “I think everyone was a zealous advocate for their constituency, yet the decorum and respect was palpable. I couldn’t have been more impressed by the people I worked with.”
Rainbolt also said he believed members of the committee should be free to discuss their opinions on the process after the new president is selected.
“I think once the process is over and a president has been selected, that each of these representatives of various corners of the university community should be free to talk about their views of the process itself,” Rainbolt said. “Obviously, we can’t talk about names of candidates, ever. We’ll continue to be under an agreement.”
Members of the committee signed a confidentiality agreement at the beginning of the proceedings not to discuss information about candidates, which drew criticism from members of the OU faculty.
While Rainbolt said he was confident in the list of names, he also said he believed everyone on the search committee had one or two favorites, but that they would support the next university president regardless.
“It would be arrogant to think any one of us had the ability to choose the right one in a vacuum by ourselves. So while the new president may not be who any one of us might have personally chosen, we all have confidence in the list we’re sending on,” Rainbolt said. “A choice on that list will deserve the respect, the loyalty and the support that we want the president of the university we love to have.”
