WSU’s next president Elizabeth Cantwell talks Pac-12, DEI and handling the Trump administration
Elizabeth Cantwell responds to a reporter’s questions during an interview Thursday after the Washington State University board of regents voted to hire her as the university’s 12th president in Pullman. (Geoff Crimmins/For The Spokesman-Review)
PULLMAN – Washington State University’s 12th president, Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell, will take the helm April 1 at a crossroads for both the school and the country.
Cantwell is stepping down as the president of Utah State University to take the job in Pullman. Outgoing WSU President Kirk Schulz will serve as a senior adviser to assist the transition through the end of the school year.
Cantwell, 69, said she wanted to start as soon as possible so she could get a taste of the spring semester before starting a new school year.
She is taking over at a tumultuous moment for higher education amid the unpredictability of the second presidency of Donald Trump and executive orders threatening federal funding.
“The Trump administration is working in a calculated manner to change the way that we have conversations about our nation and ourselves,” Cantwell said. “It’s a bit of chaos. I believe that’s on purpose.”
Universities like WSU need to stay the course to protect the interests of students and their education, Cantwell said. They need to be agile in case large federal grants are permanently canceled.
Cantwell, who said she has no relation to Sen. Maria Cantwell, said a major challenge is to manage decisions quickly to keep the institution functional in a rapidly shifting financial landscape.
“We don’t have the luxury of moving slowly,” Cantwell said.
One of Trump’s top targets is eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the government, schools and the private sector. The Idaho State Board of Education in December scrapped DEI offices at the state’s colleges, including the University of Idaho.
Cantwell said she is committed to the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, even if it needs to go by a different name.
“That work needs to be done no matter what,” she said. “Our job as a land-grant (university) is to make sure that anybody that wants what we offer has access to that. That’s equity.
“We have to put the programs in place, if they aren’t already there, that make sure that the people who come to us who are the first in their families to ever go to college have not just the ability to get here but the ability to graduate. That’s diversity.”
The university might need to be flexible with the language to describe it, but it should stay laser-focused on that goal, she said.
“Before we used the term ‘DEI,’ it was still our land-grant mission to make sure that those who wanted to come to us could come to us,” Cantwell said.
“We have done that for a long time, and we have to make sure that we continue.”
Cantwell will assume office during another fast-moving transition as the university charts the future of its athletics conference amid the breakup and reconstruction of the Pac-12.
Cantwell is familiar with the Pac-12, of which WSU is part, since she worked in research administration positions for two former member schools, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, before they left the conference in 2024. Utah State University will join the conference in 2026.
“The brand itself is amazing, and what we choose to do with it as a new Pac-12 is ours to make real,” Cantwell said.
She said it is an opportunity to innovate in a way that serves students and fans alike while acknowledging the realities of the new financial landscape.
“I am a true believer in the power of college athletics for institutions like WSU, and you will not see me suggest that we somehow get out of this game. We are in college athletics at scale going forward, and we will figure this out.”
Her first priority after taking office will be to hold a formal process of listening sessions with different constituent groups as she gets to know the university community and its different goals. These groups would include undergraduates, graduates, post-doctoral students, student athletes, faculty and staff.
She would ask them questions such as: What could the university do better? What should the school’s future be? What does she need to know?
Cantwell expects different groups will have different answers to those questions, but she will compare them for commonalities.
“The purpose is to reflect back to the community, after I do listening sessions, what we care about. Where are we together? Where are we not together? What do we think about our future?”