Board Of Regents Candidate Williams Visits Kimball

A luncheon was held Nov. 16 in Kimball for candidate Matt Williams, who is running for the University of Nebraska Board of Regents District 7.

Williams serves in the Nebraska Legislature and will term out next year. He is a lifelong banker from Gothenburg.

"I was looking for something else to be able to continue serving, and so it is kind of natural for me with my connection to the university," he told the Observer. "I have both my undergraduate and law degrees from the university, and I have been very involved. I think my experience in the legislature will be helpful in guiding policy decisions in the University.

"I think our university does a great job. Our university is so important to the economic development and growth of our state. I think the thing that I can add is we have excellent leadership at the university right now. I hope that I can be an additional set of eyes and ears for the people of the district, so the people sitting in Kimball have a connection to the university and feel that they have somebody they can talk to about if they have something that they would like the University to do different and better."

According to Williams, the University of Nebraska's tuition is the lowest of the Big 10 schools, and he hopes to continue that tradition.

The Board of Regents is the governing body of the University of Nebraska and consists of eight voting members. The members are elected for six-year terms. In addition to the eight members, there are four nonvoting students, one from each campus. Board of Regents is a non-partisan position.

Current District 7 representative Bob Phares of North Platte has announced his retirement from the Board of Regents and has endorsed Williams. At the present time, no other candidate has stepped forward to run for the seat.

District 7 encompasses almost half of the state of Nebraska and includes 45 western counties.