Board Of Regents Employee At Center Of 'Child-Speak' Controversy Retires From NSHE Job

Las Vegas NV

13 January, 2021

5:17 PM

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By Jacob Solis, the Nevada Independent January 12th, 2021 Dean Gould, the chief of staff of the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents who drew criticism last summer after he told a regent she was using "child-speak," has left his post, according to a statement made Tuesday and first published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In a statement to the R-J, system spokesperson Francis McCabe confirmed Gould retired at the end of 2020, but did not provide a reason for his retirement. McCabe did not immediately return a request for comment from The Nevada Independent. An exchange between Gould and former Regent Lisa Levine in August drew a social media firestorm amid another contentious debate over the proposed adoption of controversial federal changes to Title IX. As that debate drew to a close, Gould interrupted Levine amid a disagreement over parliamentary procedure and said: "I don't want to man-speak, but I will have to if you continue to child-speak so please stop." The comment was shared widely on Twitter, where a number of Democratic politicians — including Gov. Steve Sisolak, who appointed Levine to the Board of Regents early last year — called on Gould to apologize. Gould later doubled down and released a statement charging that his remark was a reference to another regents' meeting in July, in which Levine had accused him of "mansplaining" the system's new business procedures to her. Gould did not appear at any subsequent regents meeting through the remainder of 2020, and Board Chair Mark Doubrava later oversaw the hiring and approval of an outside attorney to investigate both meeting incidents. That investigation was resolved late last month, though few new details were released as a result. Instead, Doubrava released a statement noting that the meetings had fallen below "applicable rules of decorum and treating all who participate with respect," and that board staff had been directed to identify possible changes. However, Doubrava's statement did not make clear what possible deficiencies were identified by outside counsel, nor has the board since agendized any changes to its meeting structures. Regents will discuss the possible appointment of Keri Nikolajewski to the role of interim chief of staff at a meeting this Friday. As the board's deputy chief of staff, Nikolajewski has already served in Gould's role through roughly a half-dozen special board meetings scheduled through the end of last year. The Nevada Independent is a nonprofit, reader-supported news site. Since 2017, we have provided nonpartisan reporting on Nevada public policy, politics and people. Sign up here for our free morning newsletter. This story was originally published on