Minnesota legislators on Wednesday re-elected Linda Cohen and Dean Johnson to six-year-terms as University of Minnesota regents, and elected Abdul Omari and Peggy Lucas to their first terms on the governing board.
Omari was elected to the at-large position reserved for university students. He is a third-year doctoral student studying international and comparative development education at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
He and Lucas replace Maureen Ramirez and Venora Hung on the 12-member Board of Regents.
The four were elected with majorities during first rounds of voting by a joint session of the state House and Senate; the four chosen had been recommending by a joint Higher Education committee.
Some legislators, though, have had concerns about tuition costs and a series of paid leaves for administrators in the past.
Rep. Kim Norton, a DFLer from Rochester, didn't support either incumbent and told the Star Tribune afterwards: "Given all that has happened in the last year or so ... management needs to change."