Vargas: SEMO Board of Governors chose not to renew contract

Southeast Missouri State University president Carlos Vargas will be leaving his position in June.

Southeast Arrow file

Southeast Missouri State University president Carlos Vargas revealed Tuesday, Sept. 3, that the Board of Governors decided not to renew his contract with the school.

“It’s not that I’m not renewing my contract. If anything, the board has decided not to renew my contract or extend my contract,” Vargas said in an interview with the Arrow.

On Aug. 28, Vargas announced that his contract with SEMO will expire Monday, June 30, and he will not return for the 2025-26 academic school year.

“I announced earlier today that this will be my final year as president, and I will leave the University effective June 30, 2025. I want to share that news with our entire SEMO community. It has been my great honor and privilege to serve as president of Southeast Missouri State University for the past decade,” Vargas wrote in an email to students.

SEMO’s website states that Vargas became the university’s president in 2015 after serving as acting president at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. He supported several innovative academic programs, including bachelor’s degrees in Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Geographic Information Science, industrial and systems engineering and study-abroad programs.

However, Vargas said he believes his greatest accomplishment is the bond he has created with students.

“What I am most proud of is the relationships that I developed with the students. I feel that the students knew who I was, which was something important to me. I didn’t want to be a president that nobody knew,” Vargas said. “I wanted the students to feel that I was approachable, that I was accessible, that I am a person like anybody else.”

Vargas acknowledged the Board of Governors’ right to not renew his contract and expressed his respect for the decision.

“It’s a prerogative of the Board, and when the Board decides that they want to go in a different direction, that’s what the Board is there for, right?” Vargas said. “They are charged with hiring and firing the president, and so they’re doing what their charge is. And so they have the ability and the right to say, ‘We want a new president,’ and so I don’t question that. That’s something that they have the right to do. And it wouldn’t be worth it for me to spend time wondering why. I just respect the fact that they decided that that was the direction they wanted to go.”

Vargas said he is processing the decision and is still determining whether he will take another position somewhere else. He encourages students to look to the future and appreciate the present.

“My father used to say to me, ‘Don’t ever let your memories become more important than your dreams,’ and so I do have dreams," he said. "I want to continue to make a positive influence. It’s going to be in a different place now, probably, but take what you have for the period of time you have it and go forward with that.”