UK president defends law school dean. University board wants more transparency
University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto on Friday defended the selection of a federal judge to lead the College of Law Friday, but board of trustees members made a move to review the approval process for new deans going forward.
Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove’s appointment to the dean position did not require board approval.
Van Tatenhove’s appointment came under new scrutiny Tuesday when Gov. Andy Beshear released a statement taking issue with recent administrative decisions at UK. Beshear said he was “losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned with the management and decision-making” at the state’s largest university.”
The following day, Beshear doubled down on criticism of UK, saying the school should be “a nonpartisan university that doesn’t waste taxpayer dollars.”
Beshear referenced two moves in his initial statement: the hiring of Van Tatenhove, and plans for retiring athletic director Mitch Barnhart to move into a $950,000 role as executive in residence of a new UK Sport and Workforce Initiative.
At Friday’s board meeting, Capilouto again defended Van Tatenhove as the right choice to lead the College of Law and the dean selection process.
“The provost ran an exacting process, as he does in every dean selection,” Capilouto said. “It is a principled process, designed to ensure integrity, remain above reproach and outside influence, and ensure that all voices — those that concur and those that dissent — have a chance to be heard. I hope everyone at this board believes that the provost’s decisions and recommendations to me were free of certain donors pushing partisan and undue outside influence.”
Of the candidates interviewed, Van Tatenhove was the best selection, Capilouto said.
“To me, it was a strong field, all well-qualified, but Judge Van Tatenhove offered a stirring vision, a reverence for the college that taught him, and a commitment to our faculty and our students and our community that I felt was unparalleled. He is leaving a distinguished career already and a lifetime appointment to serve the college he loves and help it move forward at a time of real change and challenge.”
Board members call for review of policy
But board members still raised concerns about the dean selection process, which under revised governing regulations, does not require board approval for new deans.
Trustee Clark Williams said he had concerns if it was true, as Beshear mentioned, that the majority of law school faculty had opposed the selection of Van Tatenhove, who will start as dean on July 1.
“We move forward together, but this issue has exposed the need, I believe, to review and improve upon our governing rules, to improve our process of shared governance,” Williams said.
Jim Gray, a trustee who also is a former Lexington Mayor and special adviser to the governor on transportation, made a motion for the board to form a group that would review and change the governing regulations to allow the board to vote on dean appointments. That motion passed, with only trustee Robert Vance opposing.
“This motion is also about transparency,” Gray said. “It’s about demonstrating that this body, this board, this assembly, is truly an oversight and governance body, one that can openly and comfortably debate and engage often tense and difficult and thorny issues.”
The motion will not change Van Tatenhove’s hiring, but it is meant to impact future dean appointments, according to Gray. It would “encourage a collaborative group including many stakeholders” to decide who should be appointed as deans in the future, he said.
The group would entail faculty, staff and administration. They will decide whether board of trustees members should participate, Gray said.
“There’s always some tension there in terms of who’s responsible and how far a governing board goes in its role because you don’t want to be involved and too active in day-to-day management,” Gray said. “That just creates chaos, so you don’t want that.”
In his defense of Van Tatenhove, Capilouto also called on Charles “Buzz” English, chair of the J. David Rosenberg College of Law Visiting Committee — an alumni group for the college. English participated in the dean search, and serves as the chair of finance and audit committee of American Bar Association, which sets accreditation standards for law schools.
Some concerns have been raised about the college’s accreditation after Van Tatenhove’s announced appointment. Bar Association standards require that deans should not be appointed over the objection of a substantial majority of the faculty and that the dean seeks tenure unless it is an “extraordinary circumstance,” but English said he believes UK will be in compliance with those standards.
Speaking on behalf of the visiting committee, English told the board there was no outside influence on Van Tatenhove’s selection.
“We are unanimously aware of no outside influence,” English said. “We were all given opportunity to participate. We pledge to work with the faculty and Judge Van Tatenhove to make sure that the law school goes to that next step. We believe that Judge Van Tatenhove has the qualities to help us move to the next level, and we support him and our faculty in that endeavor.”
UK has repeatedly defended its selection of Van Tatenhove as the next dean this week. The university also discussed challenges facing the College of Law that Van Tatenhove will have to handle, including debt on the school’s building and the need to grow the faculty.
Provost Robert DiPaola also pointed to the “extraordinary circumstance” facing the college that makes Van Tatenhove the right hire during a 45-minute presentation to faculty and trustees Thursday.
Van Tatenhove said Thursday he was committed to being nonpartisan as a dean, and working with law school faculty despite any differences and turbulence.
“I don’t think deans ought to be viewed as partisan,” Van Tatenhove said. “They speak for the university community, the College of Law community, which includes folks from a lot of different backgrounds.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 1:12 PM.