photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Leaders of the Kansas Board of Regents listen to proposed changes to the board's tenure policy for university faculty on Dec. 17, 2025. From left to right are: Vice Chair Diana Mendoza, Chair Blake Benson, and President and CEO Blake Flanders.

It wasn’t exactly Eisenhower’s farewell warning about the military industrial complex upon leaving the White House, but the retiring president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents did provide a word of caution on Wednesday.

And, it did involve an arms race, of sorts — the kind found in college athletics.

Blake Flanders, who is retiring at the end of the month as president and CEO of the state agency that oversees higher education, expressed concern about future deals where private equity companies may provided college athletic programs money in exchange for their media rights, ticket sales and other such operations that currently are owned and controlled by the universities.

“I don’t believe the state asset should be sold,” Flanders told the crowd gathered at Wednesday’s meeting, which included the KU chancellor and the presidents of the state’s other universities. “But that’s the board’s determination to see what to do there in terms of venture capital and that kind of thing that is entering athletics.”

The idea of venture capital investors, hedge funds and private equity firms taking a stake in college athletic programs has become a major discussion point in the world of Division I college athletic programs, which have struggled to find enough cash to pay both coaches and now college athletes who are now eligible for revenue sharing payments from the schools.

The idea already has made its way deep into the Big 12 Conference. The University of Utah in December approved a $500 million deal with the private equity firm Otro Capital, which gives the firm a minority ownership interest in the revenue generating operations of the Utes’ athletic department. The University of Utah announced last week that it had finalized the deal and that it will begin on July 1.

The deal involved the creation of a new company to run Utah athletic activities, and included the hiring of at least three executives from professional sports teams to serve in key leadership roles of the new entity.

The Big 12 Conference itself also had vetted a deal a couple of years ago that that could have provided a firm up to a 20% ownership stake in certain conference revenue streams. That deal reportedly would have been worth upwards of $1 billion, but the deal has never materialized as multiple universities had questions about such an arrangement.

Flanders said he expects the topic to become a significant source of discussion among Regents in the near future. He said the topic likely will be on the board’s list of discussions to have at it annual retreat, which usually happens in July.

“It is an ever-changing world, and it is harder and harder for athletic departments to raise those funds. Could there be some kind of state partnership or something? I think those are things that need to be explored. I know the board needs policy in that area and will be drafting that.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, participates in a board meeting on March 17, 2022.

As announced in January, Flanders is retiring from the top post with the Regents after more than a decade of leading the organization.

During his tenure, Flanders led the development and implementation of the Regents’ current strategic plan, Building a Future. The plan has created initiatives designed to improve affordability of higher education, expand research activities at universities, and make the university system more active in driving economic growth in the state.

During the last five years, programs created by the board have led to: an increase of 10 percentage points in on-time graduation rates at the state’s universities; a quadrupling of state-funded student financial aid; a 16% increase in the number of high school students who also are taking colleges courses; and a 29% increase in the starting wages for graduates of Kansas universities, according to figures provided by the Regents.

A replacement — a permanent or interim leader — has not been named yet. Instead, the Regents on Wednesday voted to give the chair of the Board of Regents the authority to appoint an interim leader in the coming days.

Flanders’ last day with the Regents is June 30. Blake Benson, the current chair of the Regents, told the Journal-World that he expects an interim appointment to be made in the coming days. Benson said he expected an interim leader would serve for about two months while the Board of Regents completes the hiring process for the position.

Benson said the Regents are using the higher education search firm AGB Search to identify candidates. Applications are being accepted for the position through June 25.

The search for a new CEO and president comes at a time of turnover on the Board of Regents itself. Three of the nine members of the board have terms that are expiring and are not expected to be reappointed.

Benson and Regents Diana Mendoza and John Dicus have terms that are expiring at the end of the month. Both Benson and Mendoza are expected to temporarily continuing serving on the board until a replacement is named by the governor. Dicus, the CEO of Topeka-based Capitol Federal Savings, will not continue to serve, as he said he has new obligations with a leadership role on the board of the Kansas Bankers Association.

Dicus, along with Benson — president of the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce — and Mendoza — an administrator in the Dodge City school district — were eligible for reappointment by Gov. Laura Kelly.

However, it is not clear whether Kelly intends to make appointments to the board prior to the conclusion of her term at the end of the year. It is possible Kelly may allow the next administration to make appointments to the board — which are subject to Kansas Senate approval — or she may wait until after the November elections to make her decision on how to proceed.

Benson, during a reception speech prior to Wednesday’s meeting, told the crowd that he and Mendoza were told that it “could be a little bit” before their replacements are chosen.