NIU President John La Tourette is being considered for the vacant presidency of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.

La Tourette said he has had discussions about the position with U of H officials and was one of 10 interviewees for the position.

He said he could be interested in the presidency but that he does not have enough information about the position to seriously consider it.

“Since the interview, there has been some confusion and controversy about the process. I am being very tentative, and I would need more information before I would seriously consider the position,” La Tourette said.

La Tourette said he was recommended for the position by “key people in Washington D.C.”

He added that with 300 presidential positions vacant, this sort of thing happens all the time.

“I always regard the preliminary stages of these searches very tentatively. I need more information to take this seriously, and I don’t know how serious they are about me,” La Tourette said.

If La Tourette were to leave NIU, he would be the third major official to do so in a year.

Kendall Baker, former NIU provost, accepted a position at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks last semester.

Tom Montiegel, former vice president of Development and University Relations, also left last semester to head up the Western Golf Association as director of the Evans Scholars Program.

Last March it was reported that La Tourette was approached by several universities including Miami University in Oxford

Ohio.

La Tourette also was one of five finalists for the presidency of California’s Fresno State University in the spring of 1991.