Jared Tice has been named the new president of Capital University.
He'll replace David Kaufman, who is retiring in August after serving as the university's president for five years.
Tice said Capital University has a long history of being accepting to all students and that he intends to maintain that culture.
"I want every single student, faculty, staff, prospective student and family to feel like they have a profound sense of belonging, and they can live their authentic self on this campus that's safe, inviting and welcoming. So we'll be focused on making sure every student feels that way, regardless of what legislative impacts are or executive orders," he said.
Tice, who spoke Friday at Capital University, most recently worked as senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He was previously that school's dean of students and held that role at Barton College in North Carolina before that. He earned a doctorate of education in higher education leadership from Maryville University in Missouri.
Tice said that although Capital University is a private school, and hasn't been directly impacted by state and federal lawmakers' efforts to politically control higher education, he's still concerned.
"Certainly, any time there's legislation that impacts any sector of higher education, whether it's public, private, community college, land grants, research, water, or independent colleges or universities like Capital, we should all be concerned because it could be a slippery slope," Tice said.
Tice doesn't have an answer on whether or not he supports an effort to repeal Ohio's Senate Bill 1, the law that puts constraints on higher education, including the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
"I'm not as familiar with the language of that and I want to seek out counsel and what the trustees have to say on that matter, but at face value, what I would say is anytime there's a limitation on access, affordability or the work that we do every day, we will have concerns about it as an independent institution," Tice said.
