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Head of Governor's Diversity Council has Questions for New UNH President

Ryan Lessard for NHPR

The chairman of the Governor’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion is raising questions about the announcement of UNH’s new president, James Dean.

Rogers Johnson, who is also president of the Seacoast NAACP, has called for more transparency in the search process.

Now he says the unveiling of UNH’s choice for president seems to emphasize his ability to raise revenue for the institution.

“Which, on its own is not a bad thing," Johnson says. "But my main issue is to make sure I have the opportunity to talk to him and address the diversity issue to see how it was emphasized and to assure myself that it will be a topic of discussion going forward.”

Johnson also serves on the university’s task force on campus climate, which was formed in the wake of a series of racially charged incidents on campus last year.

Dean is a professor and former provost at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He will take over at UNH at the end of June.

Jason Moon is a senior reporter and producer on the Document team. He has created longform narrative podcast series on topics ranging from unsolved murders, to presidential elections, to secret lists of police officers.
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