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I agree completely. With his leadership, LB became the flagship of the CSU system academically and the school to apply to. The climate - academically, socially, the relationship with the community and the alumni and the general openness of the campus to the public as a whole was never better. The President's Scholars program, new campus development...it was a time of expansion, growth, great energy and optimism. The students seemed to love the whole experience, and I enjoyed it immensely (vicariously) as an involved alumni. So often I thought: "I wish things were this way when I was going to school here".
My recollection is that Maxson refused to allow Tarkanian to rescind his resignation at UNLV, saying something about the university was at a crossroads, and that it would need to decide if it were a serious academic institution or a basketball team with a university attached to it. He took a conservative route with regards to athletics, and while the flagship MBB team didn't thrive, many other sports (WVB, MVB, Dirtbags) did and the department overall fared well.
Time allows perspective, and I think I speak for many of us when I state that any shortfalls in athletics were far eclipsed by the man's accomplishments in nearly every other facet of the university's reach.
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Sad news. My condolences to his family. He was by far the best President we ever had, and I go back to Pete Peterson. He did the best he could for athletics given the draconian CSU system and state legislature he served under. I remember one coach who told me he found money he needed at the time. But his enthusiasm and approachability were spectacular. Creation of the Presidents Associates was one if the best things that ever happened.
Our last leader should have followed Bob’s lead, but she chose to retire in place. I hope the next leader will follow his lead, because it was inspiring and it inspired me to donate to the university. I hope the next person can laser focus one project in academics and athletics that is building block like the Associate were. I am afraid any prior inspiration ai had has dried up like the desert. Previous Message
I received an email from our University President today informing me of the passing of Dr Maxson. I think he was not great for athletics, but he was also the best University president we have had.
Dr. Maxson was famous for a variety of things, but his ability to remember names and faces was unbelievable. My daughter attended LBSU during his time here, and it was said if he met someone once, he would remember their name forever. My daughter met him one time on Campus, about 3 years later, we attended a NCAA basketball tourney game in Columbus Ohio, we saw Dr Maxson in the stands and went over to say hello at halftime, sure enough, he remembered her by name.
Maxson did tremendous good for the academic reputation of our University and I miss the days of his highly competent stewardship of the University. Best wishes to Sylvia and the rest of his family
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on 10/8/2025, 4:17 pm, in reply to "