The University of Michigan has its president in waiting after the board of regents agreed Tuesday, Aug. 18, upon C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Vanderbilt University, to take over the mantle.
Raver will become the second female president in U-M history (joining Mary Sue Coleman) and the 17th all-time. A special meeting of the board of regents is set for Sept. 1 for her official approval, though regent Sarah Hubbard told the Free Press the decision to bring her on was unanimous.
Raver will begin her tenure on Dec. 1 and, like regent Mark Bernstein, Hubbard is also elated about the move.
"She's got great experience, she's been at a variety of universities and her academic credentials are top notch," Hubbard said.
"You couldn't ask for somebody who's better prepared for a position like this. I think she's tough, she's been through a lot of the same issues on campus we've been through, as far as protests on campus and you know holding people accountable.
"I really am excited about her coming to Ann Arbor."
Raver has an impressive academic track record, from helping Vanderbilt launch the College of Connected Computing (the university’s first new college in four decades) to recruiting seven new deans and "reshaping academic leadership across the university" according to a university release.
The question mark surrounding the hire: Raver's disposition toward athletics.
Michigan is projected to have a $297.3 million budget for athletics in 2026-27. It has won big recently – the only school in the College Football Playoff era (since 2014) to win a national championship in both football (2024) and men's basketball (2026).
Less than one month after Raver is hired, she will need to make a major decision in athletics, with current athletic director Warde Manuel having agreed to a buyout to leave his role on Dec. 31 after more than 10 years at the helm. Hubbard assured that athletics will remain among her top priorities, which includes finding a stable leader.
"She's aware of how important athletics are at the University of Michigan, and Vanderbilt has significant athletics too," Hubbard said. "She has a lot of positions at the university to fill. So we talked more about the ability for her to build her own team, and that we have a lot of great people at the university, but there are a lot of great opportunities to bring in new ideas as well.
"I think she's going to be very thoughtful about how she does that."
One factor to consider, Hubbard said, is the pending Protect College Sports Act that's making its way through congress.
It's intent is to create a uniform national legal framework for college athletics, steady the instability across the landscape and establish "requirements for name, image, or likeness (NIL) agreements for college student athletes and provide a limited antitrust exemption for schools and conferences to pool and sell certain college sports media rights."
How the landscape changes, Hubbard surmised, could dictate an AD hire.
"In discussions I had with her about athletics, she was right on top of the current issues related to NIL or action before Congress or what it takes to run a really good athletics department," Hubbard said. "So I think that she'll have a good some good ideas in mind, but I don't know really what she's going to do exactly."
Vanderbilt AD Candice Storey Lee would seemingly be an option to replace Manuel.
Lee, who became first female AD in Vanderbilt history and the first Black woman to lead a Southeastern Conference athletic department, was named the Sports Business Journal's Athletic Director of the Year in May. She has overseen a turnaround in football with 17 wins the past two years (the same as Michigan) after winning just 18 over the prior six years combined.
Hubbard said there has been no clear indication of who Raver will tab for the role, but now that she has been named president in waiting, Hubbard expects the search process to begin in earnest.
[ Michigan football's new coach is an adult. That's a start ]
Hubbard acknowledged Raver may already have a shortlist of candidates, but the two haven't "discussed that specifically."
"There are many, many things that she needs to decide," Hubbard said. "We hired her based on her experience, based on her decision-making capabilities ... what she's going to do specifically on a lot of these openings, that she'll have to figure that out once she's on the job.
"She has lots of good people to turn to for advice on athletics. So I'm not worried. But also, I don't know that she has 100% specific ideas in mind."
It has been a tumultuous handful of years in Michigan's athletic department, highlighted by four national titles in the past five years and tarnished by FBI investigations, NCAA probes and athletic department turmoil. Michigan has a new football coach (Kyle Whittingham), new basketball coach (Mike Boynton Jr.), a new president on the way and soon, a new AD.
Can Michigan sustain winning on the field while cleaning up its act?
"There's always a story that wants to be written about how 'Michigan's in distress in athletics,'" Hubbard said. "Our accomplishments on the field belie that."
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What does new Michigan president mean for future of athletics?
