WACO, Texas (ABP) — Will D. Davis, a lawyer from Austin, Texas, was elected chair of the Baylor University board of regents May 14, succeeding Drayton McLane of Temple.
McLane, owner of the Houston Astros, was eligible for re-election as chair but declined to say if he was nominated. He told reporters he could not comment on actions taken during the regents' one-hour executive session. Other regents declined to discuss the closed-door meeting as well.
Davis, a partner with the law firm of Heath, Davis and McCalla, is considered a supporter of embattled Baylor President Robert Sloan, who last year survived an effort by some regents to remove him. Davis was chair of a regents committee that recommended a controversial increase in compensation for Sloan. The president has been under pressure from some alumni and regents over his leadership style and implementation of the ambitious Baylor 2012 long-range plan.
McLane, who represented the regents in a press conference, said the board will devote its June meeting to the Baylor 2012 plan, which includes an extensive campus building program but which has incurred extensive debt for the 14,000-student school, the largest Baptist university in the world.
McLane said the regents may need to extend the long-range plan beyond 2012 because of current economic conditions.
They also approved a $341 million budget for 2004-05, which represents a 9 percent increase over the current budget.
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