Provost Paul Gaston announced he would not run for the position of the next president of Kent State in a letter to faculty and staff Tuesday. He also said he would not accept a recommendation.

“I have known people who attempted to manage an internal candidacy, and I’m aware of the difficulty in that because the job I have is pretty complex and pretty time-consuming. An internal campaign would make my job more complicated,” Gaston said.

“I would rather do a good job as provost and make a contribution to an effective search.”

Gaston will encourage qualified acquaintances, such as provosts and presidents at universities he is familiar with, to apply for the position. He said it can’t hurt to attract the interest of anyone qualified for the job.

He said he would like to continue working for Kent State, but provosts and other executive officers are hired by the president.

“My hope would be that I have the opportunity to assist in the launch of the new presidency in the first year or so, but I expect that at some point the new president would want to search for his or her own provost,” Gaston said.

– Rachel Abbey