Members of the Murray State community packed into a room at the CFSB Center alongside school faculty, staff and officials to welcome the western Kentucky university’s president-elect Ron K. Patterson to campus Thursday.
The incoming president took the stage after remarks from MSU Board of Regents chair Leon Owens and current president Robert “Bob” Jackson, who announced his retirement last year. Patterson said that he hopes to honor the school’s storied past while finding new ways to push the institution forward.
“My first responsibility as your president will be to learn and embrace this university's core values, rich traditions, points of pride and shared aspirations, then to work with the entire university community to articulate a collective, shared vision of an exciting future grounded in Murray State's rich history and innovative future,” he said.
Patterson will be the school’s 15th president – and its first Black president. He currently serves as the president of Chadron State College in Nebraska. He brings with him more than two decades of experience in higher education, including various roles in admissions, athletics, enrollment and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
DEI programs and initiatives have been under attack in Kentucky schools – and in institutions across the U.S. – since President Donald Trump was elected to his second term.
The Murray State News recently reported that multiple MSU programs that serve underrepresented populations – including the school’s Pride Center, Women’s Center and Office of Multicultural Initiatives – have been renamed. That transition comes in the aftermath of a Trump executive order aimed at dismantling what his administration calls “radical and wasteful” initiatives.
When asked about the importance of DEI initiatives for the school moving forward, Patterson said that Murray State will always support its students.
“DEI is going to look different … but we continue to provide those support services. It’s just going to be in a different way,” he said. “The title and name may be different but, as an institution of 103 years old, we’re going to always be here for our students.”
Patterson is inheriting multiple program expansions and capital improvements from the Jackson administration. The university hopes to begin offering a doctoral program in veterinary medicine and a new 2+2 medical school program with the University of Louisville in the coming years. Those added programs would come alongside multiple campus additions – including a new living and learning residence hall and a new Nursing and Health Professions building named after Jackson and his wife Karen – and renovations to the CFSB Center and Mason Hall.
Patterson said that he hopes to begin his presidency with what he’s calling a “Racer Spirit” listening tour to meet with university constituency groups and “hear about their stories, their hopes, desires and dreams” for the school in the years ahead. He said he wants students at Murray State to get the same level of benefit that he did from his time in college.
“As a first-generation college student, access to higher education has changed the trajectory of my life. I find this promise extraordinarily impactful and powerful,” he said. “I know full well the power of an education and how it transforms lives and ignites new possibilities.”
Patterson will begin his duties as president at the start of the coming fiscal year, in July.
After he retires, Jackson will continue to serve in an advisory role for the school through October with the title of president emeritus.
