Louisiana Voice

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more political at LSU, another high-ranking administrator has packed it in in the wake of new laws that have given more power over higher education to Gov. Jeff Landry.

Provost Roy Haggerty, the highest-ranking academic administrator on the Baton Rouge campus has become the third high-profile university official to call it quits this year – and that doesn’t count law professors who have found their freedom of speech stifled by the governor.

Earlier this year, the school’s top attorney, Winston DeCuir, resigned and his resignation was followed by that of attorney Kimberly Lewis, who worked with DeCuir at the university.

Lewis had served as Gov. John Bel Edwards’s revenue secretary prior to her appointment to the board of supervisors. She was often at odds with board member Lee Mallett, a Republican donor who contributed heavily to Landry’s campaign.

Landry, who has pushed through laws that give him far more power over higher education in general and LSU in particular than previous governors, called for the punishment of law professor NICK BRYNER who made comments to his law class that Landry interpreted as critical of Donald Trump.

Following that, he called for the university to punish another law professor, KEN LEVY, who was ultimately suspended for his use of profanity in criticizing Landy. Levy is fighting his suspension in court.

While he was still attorney general, the thin-skinned Landry insisted that LSU punish political communications professor BOB MANN who had been critical of one of Landry’s deputy attorneys general who had shared vaccine misinformation at an LSU Faculty Senate meeting.

Mann held on to his position until Landry’s election. Then, seeing that his fate was sealed with Landry becoming governor, he tendered his resignation, effective the day Landry was inaugurated.

It’s obvious from Landry’s efforts to step up executions, limit access to public records, enforce religious beliefs on public school children in a naked appeal to evangelicals, rewrite the State Constitution and grab total control of state government, that he (a) wants very much to be thought of as Louisiana’s Little Trump and (b) has every intention of one day seeking higher office.