Regent Steve Sviggum will not be seeking another term on the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents. Dylan Young, the University of Minnesota-Morris student body president, announced Friday that board Chair Ken Powell confirmed this with Morris’s governance. 

Sviggum’s term as regent began in 2017 and ends this spring. 

There are 12 regents who each serve a six-year term. Four board seats are up for election every two years. 

The next regent elections will take place in spring 2023 during the next legislative session. The state Legislature elects regents after the Regent Candidate Advisory Council recommends applicants.  

Each regent represents a different part of the state. Eight regents represent Minnesota’s eight congressional districts and four represent the state at large. Sviggum holds the 2nd District seat.  

The announcement comes after Sviggum made comments at the October board meeting about the Morris campus becoming too diverse. This sparked outrage across campuses among students, staff and faculty, with some people calling for Sviggum’s resignation from the board. 

Sviggum announced his resignation from his leadership position as vice chair of the board on Oct. 25. 

Sviggum was originally elected to the board in 2011. He resigned from the board in 2012, however, after other members questioned a possible conflict of interest between his regent position and his involvement with the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus.