KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees voted Friday to add Lucy Shaw of Memphis to the search committee appointed to help find a successor to retiring UT President Joe Johnson.
Shaw’s appointment was recommended by Bill Sansom, vice chairman of the board and chair of the search committee. He said he was responding to concerns expressed since the search group was created in July.
”After the input I’ve had since the last board meeting, and after discussions I’ve had with some of the board members, we felt the right thing to do was to add Lucy to the search committee,” Sansom said.
Shaw is the only African-American member of the board of trustees and, also, the search committee. She was traveling Friday and could not participate in the meeting, Sansom said.
After the vote, Sansom invited Nashville attorney George Barrett to address the board. Barrett said Shaw’s addition to the committee still did not meet legal requirements for proportional minority representation on state boards.
UT General Counsel Beauchamp Brogan said the search committee met the applicable requirements. Kate Eyler, representing the state attorney general’s office, agreed.
The search committee’s first meeting is scheduled at noon, Sept. 15, in Memphis. The agenda will include interviews with two or three consulting firms, one of which will be hired to assist in the search, and appointment of an advisory committee, Sansom said.
The advisory committee will broaden the participation of women and minorities in the process of choosing a new UT president, Sansom said.
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