More than two months after he was offered the job, Grambling State University President Rick Gallot has signed a contract to become president of the state’s largest university system. It ends weeks of uncertainty after Gov.-elect Jeff Landry expressed concerns with Gallot’s hiring.

Rick Gallot

Gallot will take over the nine-school University of Louisiana System, of which Grambling is a member. His assumes his new position Monday.

Negotiations with Gallot hit the rocks last month when word broke that current UL System President Jim Henderson had finalized his contract Dec. 16 to take over Louisiana Tech University. Gallot had yet to been offered a contract to replace Henderson, despite both being offered the jobs on the same night.

Later that week, Landry, a Republican, expressed concerns he had not been consulted filling the UL System president’s job with Gallot, a former Democratic state legislator from Ruston. The governor-elect’s comments sparked rumors that he was displeased with Gallot’s appointment.

“I’m not opposed to anything,” Landry said. “I want to be able to meet with the board, and with Rick, to make sure the direction that they want to steer the system is the direction that people of this state believe the system should be directed.”

“When you got a change of governorship — a new governor comes in — he’s taking a new direction, and he or she should be afforded the respect to visit with those folks to make sure that they all align,” Landry said.

Gallot said in a statement Saturday he had spoken with Landry.

“I had a great conversation with Gov.-Elect Landry where we discussed our shared goal of making Louisiana a better state and improving our higher education enterprise,” Gallot said.

Gallot will be paid $475,000 annually, with a housing allowance of $54,000, an auto allowance of $24,000 annually or the use of a state vehicle. Henderson’s final salary as system president was $522,000. He held the position since 2017. Henderson will earn a salary of $450,000 at Louisiana Tech, plus additional $132,000 compensation from the Louisiana Tech University Foundation. 

This story originally appeared in Louisiana Illuminator and is republished here under a Creative Commons License.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: [email protected]. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and Twitter.

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Piper Hutchinson is a reporter for the Louisiana Illuminator. She has covered the Legislature and state government extensively for the LSU Manship News Service and The Reveille, where she was named editor...