Talk about an unseasonal storm.

It only starts with the mid-semester transition of the university’s president. The departure comes as the Nevada Legislature is meeting in a year riddled with economic uncertainty at the campus, state, and national levels. Then throw in the search for a new Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) chancellor, stiff financial headwinds for grant funding, and an atmosphere of political polarization at all levels of government.

In such a tempest, it’s easy to go off course and lose direction. But William S. Boyd School of Law professor John V. White has been around long enough to see the horizon beyond the clouds.

White has experienced all manner of metaphorical weather in his 18 years here. The former Boyd Law School dean has stepped in as an intrepid meteorologist, placing himself in the eye of previous storms as UNLV’s executive vice president and provost, the acting chancellor of the state’s higher education system, and a strategic advisor to the president.

White reads the troubling skies as well as anyone, and he’s unshaken by the current changes and challenges facing UNLV and higher education generally. His response to those who might fear the worst is striking in its simplicity: Storms come and go, but steering by your true north will see you through.

“For UNLV in particular, it’s transformed so much over the recent decades that knowing your true north is the challenge,” White says. “You have to know what your values are and what priorities to stick to. And I think for a community, both the campus and our larger community, it is necessary and difficult to know what university leaders have come to understand the main issues to be. Those issues might not be quite the same for somebody who’s been on the faculty for just a year, for example, as for somebody who’s been on the faculty for 30 years. 

“The main point — for all of higher education— is that this is a time to redouble your efforts to support your values.”

And those values? “Academic freedom, focusing on student success, and the pursuit of knowledge, no matter where it takes you — those are the things that have defined institutions and made them valuable,” White says.

The March departure of university president Keith Whitfield after four and a half years — a time that included the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and an on-campus shooting that left three faculty members dead — certainly leaves an immediate void. 

In just the past two months, UNLV has seen international students unexpectedly lose their visas. A research grant on veterans affected by Alzheimer’s disease was canceled, even as it neared completion, because the study included their LGBTQ caregivers. And students, who naturally reflect Southern Nevada’s diverse community, have shared their concerns about losing much-needed financial aid and support services that help them to get to college in the first place.  

But White also believes this time presents an opportunity for new leadership to renew UNLV’s relationship with its stakeholders. 

“These jobs require vision, and the vision has to be adapted to the times,” White says. 

The next university president’s tenure is likely to be compounded by political pressures as the federal administration pushes its own policies and agenda. 

“A huge transformation has happened, or at least is being urged, from the presidential administration. You can’t just sort of lay down and wait for it to happen. You have to get ahead of it on the one hand and push back on the other hand. And doing that is quite difficult. But if that’s all you’re doing — laying down and waiting for it — then you’re not helping the community to grow and go forward.

UNLV’s new president will need to articulate a vision that fits the community and our times, White says. “Essentially, that’s what all of higher ed needs these days.”

The good news is, UNLV has matured into a top-tier research institution with a breadth of academic, research, and service programs. The university’s presence transcends the notable symbolism of a Las Vegas that’s growing into its own as a community, White says. 

“Our wins are substantial. We’ve gone through three cycles now of the [Carnegie] R1 process, where we’ve been included in that top level. What that means is, we’ve built a faculty that is doing productive research, [one] that is advancing knowledge. 

“But I think for the consumer, the Nevada citizen, it means that if your child chooses to come to UNLV, they’ll have access to distinguished scholars and researchers, working on cutting-edge issues, who can situate the student’s education in the most recent trends in technology and scholarship.

“I think that the critical role that UNLV plays in Las Vegas and for the broader state is to provide high-level education and research and to do so at a reasonable price, so people don’t have to leave the state to get that kind of education and, in most instances, never come back,” he says. 

In a fast-paced world, higher education sometimes appears to move slowly, he notes. But by remaining true to the values that helped raise UNLV to a high level in a relatively short time, the university will be able to ride out any storm.

“Our goals need to be about stability and continuity,” White says. “We have challenges to face — and we’ll have to work hard to face them — but staying the course is about making sure we serve the people of Nevada and the ideals of the pursuit of truth.”

John L. Smith is a longtime Nevada journalist and author. A member of the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame, his latest book is Saints, Sinners, and Sovereign Citizens: The Endless War over the West’s Public Land.