Kentucky Governor Pressures UK Over Hiring Decisions

Kentucky governor Andy Beshear has become sharply critical of University of Kentucky leadership in recent days, expressing concerns about leadership and hiring decisions.

Beshear, a Democrat, first raised his concerns publicly in a Monday social media post.

“I am losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned with the management and decision-making at the University of Kentucky,” Beshear posted to X on Monday. “My concerns include the creation of a new $1 million job that has no defined duties and the announcement that the new dean of law was the only candidate not recommended by law school faculty.”

Beshear added that he was concerned donors were pushing partisan priorities at the flagship university.

The two hires in question are Mitch Barnhart, the current athletic director, who was slated to become the executive in residence for the UK Sports and Workforce Initiative after he retires this summer, and incoming law school dean Greg Van Tatenhove, a federal judge with GOP ties. 

Following Beshear’s criticism, Barnhart has since backed out. But UK appears to be sticking with Tatenhove despite criticism from law school faculty and the governor. 

Kentucky Republicans defended the Tatenhove hire this week.

“Of course the Governor thinks left-leaning faculty should make all the decisions. I am losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned with the management and decision-making of Andy Beshear,” Kentucky secretary of state Michael Adams wrote in a social media post.

In a Wednesday post on X, Beshear wrote that “the fact that a political party defended the law school dean’s appointment is telling” and that residents “deserve a nonpartisan university that doesn’t waste taxpayer dollars.” Beshear added that the UK administration needs “real oversight.”

Beshear is ramping up pressure on UK while losing other higher education battles in the state. During the spring legislative session, the Republican majority overrode vetoes from the governor on bills that targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and weakened faculty protections.

Beshear’s latest legislative loss came last week when one of his nominees, Sadiqa Reynolds, was removed from the University of Louisville Board of Trustees after the state Senate failed to confirm her before it adjourned this year’s legislative session. While Reynolds said the Senate did not explain the move, she told Louisville Public Media, “Fascists refused to confirm me.”