Gov. John Bel Edwards has named Jim Bernhard and Collis Temple Jr. to the LSU Board of Supervisors.
They are among four new board members announced this morning to replace four holdover members from Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration, whose terms expired June 1.
Bernhard, an LSU graduate, is founder of the private equity group Bernhard Capital Partners and was founder and CEO of The Shaw Group. He will represent the 6th Congressional District on the board.
Temple was the first Black player on LSU’s varsity basketball team and graduated from the university in 1974. He is CEO of the Harmony Center, which runs residential facilities for the developmentally disabled and group homes for juveniles, and CT Construction.
He will serve on the board as an at-large member.
Both Bernhard and Temple are prominent Democrats, active in civic and political circles, and supporters of Edwards. Two years ago, Bernhard vowed to get more involved in addressing some of Baton Rouge’s chronic problems, including improving infrastructure and higher education.
Reached for comment this morning, he said, “As an LSU graduate, I am honored to serve and look forward to participating in the movement of the university to greater heights.”
Temple could not be reached for comment before this morning’s deadline.
The other two members named to the board today are Opelousas attorney Pat Morrow and Monroe health care executive Randy Morris, who owns West Carroll Health Systems.
The four new members replace Blake Chatelain, James Moore, Stephen Perry and Bobby Yarborough, all business executives appointed by Jindal.
The new board members have their work cut out for them. When the pandemic struck, the university had just embarked on a national search for a new president and was simultaneously evaluating whether to split the position of chancellor-president, which were consolidated under the Jindal-appointed board.
Edwards has said he supports such a move for a variety of reasons.
Now, those discussions have been pushed to the side, as university leaders grapple with the challenges of trying to reopen safely this fall and how to balance a budget that will potentially lose millions from the economic fallout caused by the pandemic.
[crowdsignal poll=10574423]
