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LSU not releasing presidential candidates' names

Last Modified: Friday, April 26, 2013 9:34 PM

BATON ROUGE (AP) — LSU intends to appeal a judge's ruling that required the university system to turn over the names of about
three dozen candidates considered during its presidential search, and the Board of Supervisors said Friday it doesn't plan
to immediately release the names.

"LSU is disappointed in the ruling, but confident the decision will be reversed on appeal. The ruling orders LSU to do something
that is not possible — to produce records not in LSU's custody or control," Danos said.

The board has said applications were handled by its private search firm, which was hired by LSU's private foundation.

A day earlier, Baton Rouge Judge Janice Clark said the names of the presidential candidates were public record and must be
released. Her ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by The Advocate and The Times-Picayune newspapers.

Danos defended the closed-door search that led to the hiring of F. King Alexander, who starts the job later this year.

The presidential search committee, made up of mainly Board of Supervisors members, didn't interview candidates publicly and
only forwarded Alexander's name to the full board. The committee refused to list any others interviewed in the months-long
search.

The LSU Faculty Senate registered a vote of no-confidence in the Board of Supervisors and its search process.

Alexander has defended the process, saying it's not uncommon for higher education leadership searches to be done that way
so sitting chancellors and presidents can be considered without worrying about their current positions.

He said he wouldn't have agreed to be considered if the search wasn't confidential.