The Boise State University presidential hiring process is over, but search-related records will remain under wraps.
The State Board of Education has again refused to release public comments on David Hahn, Boise State’s new president. The State Board formally hired Hahn on July 1, ending a 15-month search that unfolded almost entirely behind closed doors.
The board on June 16 named Hahn the sole finalist for the Boise State presidency, beginning a limited public phase of the search. The board accepted public comments through an email address created for this purpose. Idaho Education News first requested the public comments on June 18, but State Board Executive Director Jennifer White refused the request, saying the board was using the comments as part of its review of Hahn.
“They constitute records relating to the screening, evaluation, and selection of an applicant for employment,” White said at the time.
After the search concluded, EdNews again requested the public comments on July 2. White again said no.
“Those communications were solicited by the board to inform its screening, evaluation, and selection of a specific applicant for employment and, thus, are protected from disclosure,” White wrote on July 8. “The fact that Dr. Hahn has now been appointed president does not alter the original basis for withholding these records. In addition, now that Dr. Hahn is a public official, they also constitute personnel information and correspondence related to a current public official protected from disclosure.”
White also again rejected EdNews’ requests for written comments to the Boise State presidential search committee. White cited the same concerns — saying the committee used the comments as part of its search process, and the comments now pertain to Hahn, “a current public official.”
The search for Boise State’s eighth president was marked both by its length — and by its secrecy.
The State Board suspended its search in October, after board leaders said some qualified candidates did not want to be identified publicly as job applicants. At the board’s urging, the 2026 Legislature passed a law moving most of the search process behind closed doors.
The new law no longer requires the State Board to announce a field of five presidential finalists. The State Board now must announce only a sole finalist — as it did in the Boise State search.
Boise State is Idaho’s largest public university, with fall enrollment increasing to 28,461 last year. It has a $307.4 million budget for this year, including $131.4 million of tax revenues from the state’s general fund.
