John V. Lombardi, the Louisiana State University system president known for his combative style, was fired on Friday by the system’s Board of Supervisors.
Mr. Lombardi, who was hired at LSU in 2007, has locked horns with every board he has served in higher education, and his firing in Louisiana was the third presidency of his career to end with tension. Before he went to Louisiana, Mr. Lombardi was pressured to step down as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He was similarly forced out of the University of Florida presidency, in 1999.
The Louisiana board, half of whose members were appointed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, voted 12 to 4 in favor of Mr. Lombardi’s dismissal.
Mr. Lombardi’s outspoken nature and sometimes stubborn demeanor are often cited in his professional obituaries, but Friday’s firing came with strong political overtones. Several board members publicly stated that Mr. Lombardi’s downfall was tied to his fractured relationships with key decision makers in the state.
“He doesn’t have credibility with the administration and with rank-and-file legislators. This is not something that popped up overnight,” Stephen Perry, a Louisiana State board member, told The Advocate, a Baton Rouge newspaper.
Mr. Lombardi declined an interview request.
Governor Jindal, a Republican who took office in 2008, has voiced support for a group called the LSU Flagship Coalition, a cohort of business leaders who have argued that the system’s Baton Rouge campus should be granted more autonomy. A source close to the board described the politically connected coalition as a “rogue” operation intent on propping up Baton Rouge at the expense of the rest of the system. The group’s members are closely aligned with Governor Jindal, and “the real strength of the initiative is the governor’s staff’s interest in controlling every aspect of the LSU institutions’ operations,” said the source, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the board’s internal workings.
The governor’s staff attempted to exert its control of the system late last year by pressuring Mr. Lombardi to fire several system officials perceived as insufficiently supportive of the governor’s agenda, the source told The Chronicle. That request was reinforced during two separate meetings between the staff and Mr. Lombardi, who declined to fire the staff members, the source said.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to the allegations on Friday.
Sean Reilly, co-chairman of the LSU Flagship Coalition, did not return a telephone call Friday. He told The Advocate, however, that the coalition had “stayed out” of discussions about Mr. Lombardi’s status as president.
Mr. Lombardi publicly opposed several initiatives put forward by Governor Jindal, notably his proposal to create a single board for higher education in the state. The proposal’s critics suggested it would give the governor more direct control over the institutions.
