The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has named Cheryl Montgomery as chief of staff to Chancellor Lori Bruce, effective Monday, Nov. 3.

In this key position, UTC says Montgomery will serve as a strategic advisor to the chancellor, providing executive-level support in advancing institutional priorities, managing complex initiatives, and fostering collaboration across the University and the broader Chattanooga community.

She may be a fine person, but like most of the faculty and staff of our taxpayer-funded state universities, she is out of step with the political and cultural ideology of the vast majority of Tennesseans. And like most of her colleagues, she will most certainly bring her left-wing ideology to bear in directing the affairs of the university.

What is her background? From 1996 to 2000, she served on Democrat Attorney General Janet Reno’s staff at the U.S. Department of Justice as assistant to the U.S. Attorney General and director of scheduling and briefing. Prior to that, she was scheduling manager for Democrat U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper. Early in her career, she was a staff assistant to then Democrat U.S. Sen. Al Gore.

Can conservative Republican students at UTC expect to get fair treatment from the Chancellor’s office? What hiring practices will Montgomery promote? Will the university rein in DEI hiring under her leadership? Should the Chancellor post on the university’s website that Republicans need not bother to apply for staff or faculty positions since they are likely to be denied any opportunities at UTC?

Should Tennesseans be surprised when professors of “queer anthropology” are hired under the leadership of woke Democrats and liberal faculty on campuses across Tennessee?  How many others are promoting their agendas at taxpayer expense across the state? Will Tennessee legislators ask these questions and more the next time the budgets for UT campuses are up for consideration?

Montgomery is definitely not the worst example of Tennessee public universities hiring people who clearly bring a political agenda to important positions that are way out of step from the majority of voters in the state. But she is another example of why our colleges are not reflective of the values, ideology and perspectives of the vast majority of our population. We can’t fix what is broken at our colleges and universities as long as they keep hiring faculty and staff who bear great responsibility for the liberal policies that broke them.

Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily.