Back to Abnormal: HBCU executive leadership turnover in 2022-23 returns to crisis level
By: William Broussard, Ph.D. and Dakota Doman, Ed. D.
Length of tenure matters to legislators, private sector partners, and alumni/community supporters. In a June 6 webinar sponsored by Ruffalo-Noel Levitz entitled “After Alumni Participation Rate: The Path Forward for Higher Education Fundraisers,” staff pointed out that one of the most important determinants of significant financial support is time. The average length of time between when a donor makes their first donation and their first major gift donation (e.g., an amount large enough to endow a scholarship) is 11.9 years.
Unfortunately, the American Council on Education’s “The American College President” study found that presidential tenures continue to shrink, from an average of 6.5 years in 2017 to an average of 5.9 years, with a median of only 4.5 years in 2023. If, over that twelve-year span, an alumnus, legislator, business-owner, or community member can cultivate relationships with consistent leadership in place long enough to deliver on the promises they’ve made, it stands to reason that they’d increase their investment over time.
On the other hand, if the reset button gets smashed every 24 to 36 months, sometimes multiple times in a single twelve-month period, we understand why potential investors may hesitate.
Since 2015, dozens of HBCUs announced leadership changes, either as retirements, resignations, or terminations. In the worst situations, these decisions stall progress on long-term negotiations, reduce alumni and donor confidence, and cause director-level leaders to worry about their prospects should a new leader decide to replace them. University boards, common culprits of meddling with day-to-day operations which cause high turnover rates often respond by tapping a merry-go-round of familiar names to serve in interim and permanent roles.
Meanwhile, younger, vibrant leaders from diverse leadership backgrounds find themselves in mid-career crises as their worst professional moments play out in the media while they can do little to legally defend themselves in the court of public opinion.
In 2022, the high rate of turnover at HBCUs abated. The deceleration was a relief as universities began emerging from COVID-19 lockdowns and needed steady leadership. However, in 2023 the pace of leadership turnover made up for last year’s reversal as institutions previously unplagued by high executive turnover fell victim to the practice. High-profile dismissals multiplied the indignity with the year ending as it began with mind-boggling announcements that threatened to shake confidence in the sector.
A comparably low number of institutions announced leadership changes (23 total), but 41 position changes were announced. One out of every four 4-year HBCUs experienced a resignation or termination. As we chronicled the announcements in a Twitter thread, the visual was much more impactful as the posts multiplied. This thread shows the panoply of possibilities awaiting those who assume the mantle at HBCUs: rising stars plummeting to earth like Icarus; newcomers leaving nearly as soon as they arrived; and all too rarely, dedicated professionals earning a distinguished retirement on their own terms.
At Prairie View, Ruth Simmons announced her retirement early enough to give the search for the next president sufficient time to conclude. That plan went well until February, when Simmons published a letter recognizing her decision to leave as a “surprise” and unfortunately “premature” as it came to light that she would not be allowed to make key personnel decisions in her final year. Three months after announcing that a new president would begin her duties in July, an interim president was named for 4.5 months.
Alcorn State University, in a two-month span, announced that Felicia Nave resigned and that Ontario Wooden would take over as interim president; a title he would relinquish weeks later after resigning from the university.
Texas Southern announced that Lesia Crumpton-Young resigned after two years, making way for their fifth leader since 2016 (including interim appointments). The Texas Southern campus community was alerted of the retirement/resignation days before it went into effect. Because of the abruptness of what transpired, the Board of Regents moved to appoint an acting CEO to ensure accreditation compliance and to work with the executive leadership team, including the new provost who was named one month before the resignation notice and still had one month before he was to assume his duties. Fortunately, a Regent with significant higher education and HBCU president experience in Mary Evans Sias was identified to assume the interim rule.
Mississippi was a fraught place to be an HBCU president this year as Alcorn, Rust, Tougaloo, and Jackson State all replaced their presidents. Fisk moved on to its fifth executive since 2016 after Vann Newkirk resigned at the beginning of the fall semester (and was later named president at Wilberforce). Savannah State named its sixth executive since 2007 when interim president Cynthia Robinson Alexander assumed duties. And a disturbing trend of presidents resigned before they could watch the freshmen from their first year on duty graduate, as LeMoyne Owen, Rust, Tougaloo, and Texas Southern made such transitions.
On a more positive note, Stillman, Langston, Howard, University of District Columbia, and Jarvis Christian had presidents retire after lengthy and successful posts (with Cynthia Warrick and Ronald Mason having served in executive roles at multiple HBCUs). Johnson C. Smith appears to have hit a home run in the hire of Valerie Kinloch, an alumna with extensive higher education experience and a well-regarded scholar, and Glenell Lee-Pruitt served for a decade as Jarvis Christian’s provost before assuming the presidency and is also an elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (JCU’s religious affiliation).
Finally, Morgan State’s David Wilson signed a 7-year contract extension which, if served in its entirety, would end with a 20-year tenure at the helm.
As alumni and supporters of HBCUs, we need to invest in their leaders and support these institutions, building into our networks the individuals who comprise the university boards and faculty/staff senates who nominate and call for the removal of leaders at a pace which must relent. It is also time to examine the organizations tasked with conducting executive searches. The executive search firms responsible for identifying leaders that will provide a stable, transformative administration are highly paid and underperforming. These firms add insult to injury, levying fees equal to one-third of the cash compensation salary of the incoming president. There are numerous examples of a firm being contracted to find a president, only for the president to leave after a short stint and the firm getting another chance to identify another leader.
Most firms will conduct a replacement search at no cost if the president departs within one year, but those same firms following the same procedures often produce the same kinds of candidates whose presidencies don’t last.
One of the value propositions of HBCUs is catering to a demographic of students that have been historically marginalized and providing for them the necessary community to be successful so that the upward mobility they seek can be achieved. HBCU administrators tout their ability to do this because they understand their students.
As supporters we need to continue to identify the obstacles that prevent HBCU leaders from ensuring that the next generation of students receives the support that HBCUs have always delivered.
2022-2023 Executive Leadership Turnover
Institution Announcement
Alcorn State University President Felecia Nave resigns
Interim President Ontario Wooden Announced
Interim President Tracy Cook announced
Bishop State College (AL) New President Olivier Charles
Central State University President Jack Thomas resigns
Fisk University President Vann Newkirk resigns
Interim President Frank Sims announced (also served in this role from 2015-2017)
Howard University New President Ben Vinson III announced
Huston-Tillotson University (TX) New President Melva Williams
Jackson State University President Thomas Hudson resigns
Interim President Elayne Hayes-Anthony announced
Jarvis Christian University (TX) President Lester Newman retires
New President Glenell Lee-Pruitt announced
Johnson C. Smith University (NC) President Clarence Armbrister retires
New President Valerie Kinloch announced
Langston University President Kent Smith resigns
Interim President Ruth Ray Jackson announced
LeMoyne Owen College (TN) President Vernell Bennett-Fairs resigns
Interim President Christopher Davis announced
Philander Smith College (AR) President Roderick Smothers resigns
Interim President Cynthia Bond Hopson announced
Prairie View University President Ruth Simmons retires
Acting President Michael McFrazier announced
New President Tomikia LeGrande announced
Rust College (MS) President Ivy Taylor resigns
Savannah State University President Kimberly Ballard Washington resigns
Interim President Cynthia Robinson Alexander announced
Southern University-Shreveport New Chancellor Aubra Gantt announced
Stillman College (AL) President Cynthia Warrick resigns
New President Yolanda Page
Texas Southern University President Lesia Crumpton-Young resigns
Acting CEO Dakota Doman announced
Interim President Mary Evans Sias announced
Tougaloo College (MS) President Carmen Walters resigns
University of the District of Columbia President Ron Mason retires
New President Maurice Edington
University of the Virgin Islands President David Hall retires
Wilberforce University (OH) New President Vann Newkirk
Winston Salem State University Chancellor Elwood Robinson retires
New Interim Chancellor Anthony Graham appointed by UNC System
William Broussard, Ph.D. is Vice Chancellor of University Advancement at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is a 23-year veteran of higher education, leading departments and divisions in intercollegiate athletics and university advancement.
He has researched HBCU executive leadership extensively, contributing to Understanding the work of student affairs professionals at minority-serving institutions in the US: Effective practices, policies, and training (2022); The Beauty and the Burden of Being a Black Professor (2020); Leadership at Minority Serving Institutions (2019); Underserved Populations at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: The Pathway to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (2018); and Exploring Challenges and Opportunities for Leadership at Minority Serving Institutions (2017). He has also published in Diverse, HigherEd Dive, HBCU Digest, Education NewsFlash, and for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
His book Under the Radar, Below the Fold: Fundraising in Public Regional Universities is under contract with Palgrave MacMillan. He can be reached on Twitter @DeadLecturer.
Dakota Doman, Ed.D. is Acting Chief Executive Officer at Texas Southern University. He joined TSU in 2022 as Chief of Staff. He has over 15 years of executive higher education experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Predominantly White Institutions at various Research Carnegie Classifications. In addition to serving as a Chief Executive Officer, administrator, academician, strategist, policy analyst, governmental
relations liaison, and researcher. Dr. Doman has presented over 75 presentations across the country on various higher education topics related to HBCUs, organizational leadership and change management, talent acquisition, and student success.