ANALYSIS: Luther College Board of Regents took a side step on naming a new president

by decorahnews.com's Paul Scott

It was expected that the Luther College Board of Regents was going to name a new president of the college on Saturday.  So much for expectations.

In a carefully-worded statement, the Regents instead announced that "Any decision about the election of Luther's next president will be deferred."  That announcement, when it comes, could be the hiring of one of the finalists, Dr. Mark Hagerott.  But since the Regents had a chance on Saturday to name a new president and did not do that, it is also possible there will be other outcomes the next time the Regents meet.

So it's more accurate to state that the Regents neither went forwards nor backwards on Saturday--they merely took a side step.

The Presidential Search Committee will do some further investigating of the background of Dr. Mark Hagerott and will report back to the Regents by April 30th.  What will happen then?  The correct answer is that it's hard to predict what will happen, so stay tuned!