U. brass praise Machen track

He went up against legislators who said the University of Utah should allow guns on campus, and won — the first round, at least.

He spoke out in favor of a more diverse school.

He helped get buildings built on campus.

He worked closely with two of the U.'s biggest donors, the Huntsman and Eccles families.

He was visible in the community. He may have even helped get a coveted football coach to the school a little more quickly.

U. President Bernie Machen is leaving for the top post at the University of Florida. Although the State Board of Regents has the final say on a new president, leaders at the U. are already thinking they'd like more of the same in their school's next boss.

Along racial, ethnic and religious lines, the U. has been getting more diverse since Machen's arrival more than five years ago.

"I really think the university gets stronger as we get more diverse," said Andrew Gitlin, president of the U.'s Academic Senate. "He has really campaigned for that."

A special effort has been made to reach out into Salt Lake City's large Hispanic population on the west side. The U. is also now co-sponsor of a Latino soccer league that draws most of its players and audience from the west side.

Campus diversity gets a little more sticky, though, when the subject turns to medical school admissions. Some legislators, Gitlin said, may think that diversity there means some qualified candidates might be denied a fair chance.

Gitlin, who heads a 120-member faculty senate, said he'd like a new president who "hypes" diversity, someone who is faculty-oriented, who sees the value in a research university and who is a great fund-raiser, an area where some might feel Machen could use some improvement.

"Look, Bernie wasn't perfect, nobody is," Gitlin said. "It wouldn't be shocking to me if at least a few faculty didn't like him." In the "political" position of being a university president, Gitlin said, someone is not going to like you.

But overall, Gitlin liked the direction Machen was taking the university and wants to stay on that track.

James Macfarlane, chairman of the U. Board of Trustees, said Machen has worked well with donors like the Huntsmans, the big reason the U. is getting a cancer hospital next year.

University presidents are expected to be fund-raisers these days.