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Bardo says he’ll stay at Western Carolina
By Lynn Hotaling
Western Carolina University Chancellor John Bardo Monday (June 6) announced his decision to stay on as chancellor at Western Carolina University.
A May announcement identified him as one of the top four candidates being considered for the position of president of Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.
Bardo indicated this week that he had decided to withdraw his name in advance of a scheduled Monday meeting by Marshall’s Presidential Search Committee.
“I have asked that my name not be a part of the committee’s final considerations,” Bardo said. “Marshall is a fine institution with a bright and intriguing future, with excellent leadership and strong support at the highest levels of West Virginia’s state government. I have appreciated immensely the opportunity to explore with many of those leaders how public policy and higher education might better intersect to enhance the lives of our citizens and the economies of our states and their sub-regions.”
According to Bardo, his decision was the result of “soul-searching” on the part of him and his wife, Deborah. While they were impressed with Marshall and the opportunities that university offered, they felt they could not abandon their commitments to the people of Western North Carolina.
“Our hearts are in North Carolina,” Bardo said. “While personal career advancement might well involve accepting the challenge of leading a complex institution with doctoral status, I do not believe that our commitment to the people of North Carolina would best be served by our accepting a position in another state at this time.” Bardo mentioned the state’s ongoing study into how state universities can enhance their contributions to the public as a factor in his decision to stay.
“North Carolina is currently engaged in thoughtful consideration of how our universities might further contribute to the well-being of our citizens, in expanded access to higher education and as a catalyst to economic development,” he said. “Helping North Carolina achieve those goals is at the core of Western Carolina University’s mission, and all of us at the University look forward to continued discussion of how best to achieve them.”
Bardo, 57, came to WCU as chancellor in 1995. Enrollment has grown from 6,700 to 8,400 students during that time and is expected to top 10,000 within four years.
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