Two of three finalists have dropped out of consideration to become AU's president, according to a source familiar with the search process who agreed to speak to The Eagle on condition of anonymity.
The source revealed this information to The Eagle days before the board of trustees expected to meet to receive the recommendations of the Presidential Search Committee. As of Monday evening, The Eagle had not heard of any change to the expected date of the board's meeting, which was expected to occur Wednesday. If board members met as scheduled, they were not likely to confirm the remaining finalist, the source said.
The Eagle was not able to obtain additional information about the finalists or the reasons behind two finalists' departure from the search. However, one finalist who dropped out had wanted to become the university's president, the source said.
The source also confirmed that Interim President Neil Kerwin had applied for the position, but the source did not want to publicly release further details about his candidacy.
Committee Chairman Gary Abramson could not be reached for comment. Several students involved in the search process declined to comment or did not return calls for comment as of this article's posting.
The incident is similar to events that occurred during the university's last presidential search in 1993 and 1994. Scott Cowen, then-dean of Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, and Richard Breslin, then-president of Drexel University, both dropped out of consideration during the university's winter break between December 1993 and early January 1994. The board decided to reopen the search process because the committee did not recommend Arthur Levine, then-chair of Harvard University's graduate education program and the remaining finalist. The board later selected former President Benjamin Ladner following a second search period, The Eagle previously reported.
