Iowa State President Steven Leath’s recent announcement that he will step down from his position to become the president at Auburn University came as a surprise to many.

As Leath prepares to leave, here is a comparison of other past presidents’ departures. 

Gregory Geoffroy

Gregory Geoffroy was the Iowa State president from 2001 to 2012. His departure was vastly different than Leath’s.

Geoffroy announced that he would step down as president nearly nine months prior to when the next president, Leath, took the new position. This allowed for a full search process that was void of surprises, resulting in a clean passing of the baton from Geoffroy to Leath.

The former president also did not fully retire from the university; he maintained a position at the school after he stepped down.

When Geoffroy relinquished his role, many people at the time were already discussing his legacy compared to other Iowa State presidents.

“I predict that 50 years from now, people will still be talking about Greg Geoffroy as one of the great presidents,” said Elizabeth Hoffman, Iowa State vice president at the time, reflecting on Geoffroy in 2011.

Geoffroy stepped down amid praise and thanks for his time as Iowa State’s president, and Geoffroy Hall was recently named in his honor.

Martin Jischke

Martin Jischke served as Iowa State’s president from 1991 to 2000. It’s easy to draw comparisons between his departure from Iowa State and Leath’s.

Jischke stepped down as Iowa State president to take the same position at Purdue University. He was president there until 2007.

When Jischke left Iowa State, many had mixed feelings about his time here.

“I think we’ll be better off without him,” said Geoff Janes to the Daily’s Sara Tennessen at the time.

Two years after Jischke had left, however, his name caused quite a bit of controversy.

In early 2002, it was announced that a soon-to-be-complete honors building would be named after Jischke.

Some students tried to get the name changed, believing that the building was too important to be named after the former president because “nobody liked Jischke,” Jessica Raim, the student who led the appeal, said.

The Jischke Honors Building held the name despite the appeal.

Steven Leath

Leath’s departure from Iowa State is reminiscent of Jischke’s. Like the previous president, Leath is leaving Iowa State to become president elsewhere, and there are a few who view his scandals as reasons to be happy that he’s leaving.

Planegate, as it was dubbed, caused many to lose confidence in their president despite his other accomplishments.

Only time will tell if Leath’s mistakes will be forgotten and his legacy will be like that of Geoffroy, or if there’s a battle waiting to happen when a building is named after him like Jischke.