It was announced on Monday, March 20th, that Iowa State University’s President Leath would be the new president of Auburn University in Alabama. President Leath will be replacing Jay Gogue who is retiring. Leath will leave Iowa State in either May or June and will begin his new job on July 15th.

President Leath did a tremendous job at improving the already great, Iowa State. According to Leath, enrollment, graduation, and job-placement rates all improved during the five-year period in which he served as president. In his resignation letter, he wrote that he was proud of the “many accomplishments that we achieved in economic development and community engagement.”

Though President Leath did encourage great growth at Iowa State, he faced much criticism for his own personal actions. In the fall of 2016, Leath used a university airplane for his own personal usage and ended up causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to the aircraft. The Iowa Department of Public Safety decided not to charge him. In attempts to make amends for his mistakes, Leath wrote two large checks to the ISU Foundation.

Despite these setbacks, it has been clear that Iowa State University will miss their president. However, many faculty members and students are excited about the fresh start. Many students have already begun begging for VEISHA to be brought back to campus. VEISHA was a week long celebration on campus at Iowa State University and was the largest in the nation until 2014 when President Leath ended the tradition. There are high hopes that this long-loved celebration will be brought back with a new president.

Though President Leath accomplished many things at Iowa State during his 5-year term, he is excited for his future at Auburn University.