Kent State's Lefton Commended for Strengthening City, Campus Relations

The Kent and Kent State University community responded with mixed reaction to the news that President Lester Lefton will be retiring when his contract ends in July 2014.

Community and campus leaders praised Kent State's 11th president for his leadership in strengthening town-gown relations, yet students and others used the announcement to sharply criticize the 66-year-old Boston native on social media.

Town-Gown Renewal

"Lester’s got to be commended on what he brought to the table to help the city of Kent and the university as a whole get what we had to get done dowtown with our redevelopment," Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala said. "Lester had the personality to help Kent get done what we needed to get done."

Lefton came to Kent in 2006, at about the same time Kent City Manager Dave Ruller started his tenure as the city's top employee.

It didn't take long for the two out-of-towners to strike up a conversation about the city's potential for redevelopment.

As a redevelopment partner, Lefton and his administration worked with city leaders, county, state and federal officials to spur the more than $100 million redevelopment under way downtown.

Ruller credited Lefton with helping the community rediscover itself and renew its passion for Kent.

"He helped us see that it's not enough to have great ideas," Ruller said. "You've got to have the kind (of) energy and vision that can get people up out of their seats and rolling up their sleeves to turn ideas into actions.

"The results in Kent speak for themselves," Ruller said. "As we are busy cutting ribbons on projects that for decades were described as impossible."

The downtown redevelopment not only directly involves the university via the new Kent State Hotel and Conference Center, but the university also is working on the Esplanade pedestrian pathway that will directly link campus to downtown.

The more than $10 million project cut a wide swath through the neighborhood west of campus that links the hotel and redevelopment area directly to the Kent State Museum.

Set to open in 2015, after Lefton has left, will be the new Kent State College of Architecture and Environmental Design, a $40 million building that will stand on the Esplanade and symbolize the final link between the campus and university.

Douglas Steidl, dean of the architecture college, said he's hopeful Lefton will return when they cut the ribbon on the new state-of-the-art building.

"I think he had a vision when he came in of what he thought needed to be done," Steidl said. "Many of those things have been accomplished. And it’s going to improve even more over the next few years with the construction that’s going on."

Remaking the campus

Downtown isn't the only place seeing millions of dollars in new construction courtesy of Lefton's efforts.

The Kent campus is on the cusp of a more than $200 million renovation plan that includes new buildings for the architecture college and the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology.

The renovation plan calls for utility and academic updates that will touch nearly every building on the main campus.

Lefton also pushed for the redesign of the Kent State Student Center Risman Plaza with the addition of the Student Green. And under his watch the site of the May 4, 1970 shootings landed on the National Register of Historic Places with the new May 4 Visitors Center museum to be dedicated next month.

“I am so proud of where our university is today, and our record-setting performances have exceeded even our own high expectations and captured regional, state and national attention,” Lefton said in an email message to university faculty, staff and students Wednesday morning. “Kent State is well-positioned for the future, and the academic and physical transformations we have begun – across our campuses and our home communities, most notably, in Kent – will pave the way for an even more exciting future."

In addition to the main campus, several of the regional campuses have seen expansive renovations or large, new construction projects. Perhaps the largest during Lefton's tenure, the Geauga campus opened the in Twinsburg. 

Jane Murphy Timken, chair of the Kent State trustees board, called Lefton's seven years at Kent State transformational.

"President Lefton’s contributions to Kent State have been extraordinary,” Timken said. “He has been the right leader at the right time who has brought a new sense of purpose and pride in Kent State."

Students critical, faculty measured

While city and campus leaders praised the retiring president students took a decidedly sharper approach to the news.

Students flooded Twitter with celebratory comments over the news of Lefton's retirement.

"Maybe we will get a president who actually cares about his students more than the business," Sarah Jane wrote on the university's Facebook post announcing Lefton's retirement.

Enrollment numbers and fundraising dollars have risen steadily during Lefton's tenure, but so too has tuition and student fees.

"Which leads to a heavy financial burden for all who attend the university," Boris Rúdick Santillana wrote on the university's Facebook page. "He did all this while taking in a $104K bonus this year and a $102K bonus the previous year ... most of the improvements made were purely aesthetic."

Faculty members offered a more measured response to Lefton's retirement announcement.

Tracy Laux, a math lecturer on the Kent campus and former faculty union representative, said he suspects internal academic operations of the university will see little change with Lefton's eventual departure.

"I of course wish him well in his retirement," Laux said.

Steidl, the architecture dean, said Lefton did more than phsyically tie the university and community together but he also changed the way faculty and staff work towards campus-wide goals.

"That’s a cultural change, and it’s more challenging than the physical change," Steidl said. "I think he’s done a good job at it.

Bill Sledzik, an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said it seemed clear Lefton chose to focus on the fundraising and expansion efforts while letting his administrative staff manage the core academic operations.

"College presidents don’t seem to focus internally as much as they used to," he said. "They’re mostly focused on the outside raising money, doing things to promote the university. And I think Lefton’s done a good job with that.

"In my business, in public relations, that’s the sizzle and not the steak," Sledzik said.

He said he wants to see the university's 12th president focus more on academic goals than expansion projects.

"I think what we need to look at is what are we producing in terms of student outputs," Sledzik said. "Who are we admitting here? Are we raising the bar? Who are we putting out into the market place?"