Davenport talks free speech, diversity, AD search on first day

In her first interview on the University of Tennessee's Knoxville campus, new Chancellor Beverly Davenport said she doesn't think the state needs a law protecting free speech on college campuses and suggested she would work to reinstate funding for UT's Office for Diversity and Inclusion.

Davenport, who took office Wednesday as the first female chancellor at UT, also touched on the search for a new athletic director, outsourcing of facilities management jobs and Title IX issues in a wide-ranging discussion with members of the media Wednesday morning.

Davenport, 62, takes over from Chancellor Emeritus Jimmy Cheek, who is moving to a tenured faculty position in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. With a $585,000 base salary, Davenport will earn more than her predecessor.

She is inheriting a wide range of issues and said she has "a lot of listening to do" in her first few weeks on campus.

Among the most recent is a bill proposed by state lawmakers last week that aims to protect free speech on campus after a Breitbart News editor whose planned speech at the University of California, Berkeley, spurred violent protests that prompted college officials there to cancel the event.

Rep. Martin Daniel, R- Knoxville, a sponsor of the bill, said last week the legislation is "designed to implement oversight of administrators' handling of free speech issues."

Davenport, who has a background in communications and comes to UT from the University of Cincinnati, where she most recently served as interim president, said she is a First Amendment advocate and proponent of free speech on campus, but doesn't see the need for a bill.

"It's a constitutional right. I don't think we need a bill," Davenport said.

She's also expected to work with state lawmakers when it comes to funding for UT's Office for Diversity and Inclusion. Last year the state diverted more than $400,000 away from the office after conflicts with lawmakers over Sex Week events and a post on the office's website promoting the use of gender-neutral pronouns and advising against Christmas-themed holiday parties.

When asked by a reporter Wednesday whether that money, which was diverted to pay for scholarships for minority students, would be redirected, Davenport said "there will be funding."

"I will only be on a campus where every student is supported and made to feel welcome and important and safe," she said. "I wouldn't be on a campus if I wasn't committed to and wouldn't find revenue to support the programs that serve all of our students."

She also said communicating with state lawmakers is one area where universities, in general, need to improve.

"We say this when I’m among administrators at national meetings, we say this all the time: 'We haven’t constructed our narrative very well. We haven’t told our story well enough,'" Davenport said. "The burden is on us. The responsibility is on us to make that argument, to tell that story."

On the search for a new athletic director, Davenport said the university is "moving really quickly" but no firm timeline is in place for filling the post. She would not comment when asked to disclose the names of specific candidates.

"I have no doubt she'll make a great decision," said Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick. "I think she's going to take her time. Do I want an AD yesterday? Yeah. But I think she's going to do her homework. She's going to do her due diligence. I think she's going to try to get the best fit here. I respect that. I want her to do that. We've got to get it right."

In an interview last week, Davenport also talked about the importance of education on Title IX issues, especially given that UT in July settled a $2.48 million lawsuit accusing the university of fostering a "sexually hostile environment" and mishandling allegations of sexual assault on campus, especially allegations made against athletes.

She reiterated Wednesday that Title IX and campus sexual assaults are the issue that "probably keeps me up at night more so than any other issue that I deal with."

Davenport cited a meeting with Gov. Bill Haslam during her interview process as one thing that attracted her to Tennessee, but said she needs to research more his proposal to outsource facilities management on public college campuses. She said she would consider options for UT to opt out of the outsourcing proposal but "it’s certainly one of those topics I need to know more about."

An avid Twitter user, Davenport also expressed her excitement to be on campus Wednesday morning on Twitter and said it's one way Tennesseans both on and off campus can keep in touch with her - though it's not the only way.

"I will be out in as many places as I can be every day," Davenport said. "I want them to know me some other way than through a Tweet, too. I will be out there. I will be visible."