During an ETSU Board of Trustees meeting Friday afternoon, ETSU President Brian Noland announced he had withdrawn his candidacy for the chancellorship at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Noland, who graduated and met his wife at UT-K, said he was “touched” by the well-wishes from ETSU faculty, staff and students and was committed to ETSU.

President Noland announced he was a finalist for the UT-K chancellorship on April 10 and hosted a forum at the Knoxville campus last week with faculty, staff and students.

“We are choosing to remain dedicated to an institution that, over the past seven years, has embraced us in meaningful ways, thereby resulting in lasting memories and lifelong friends,” Noland said in an emailed statement this afternoon.

“Really what I’ve been moved by, is the power of this institution to impact the lives of people in this region,” Noland said during his announcement to the Board.