At least 16 of the nation’s 105 historically black colleges are seeking permanent presidents. And while regular leadership turnover at higher-education institutions is not out of the ordinary, the rate at which presidents arrive at and depart from HBCUs has raised alarms.
On some campuses, interim presidents have provided a temporary respite — such as Ruth J. Simmons, the former president of Brown University, who is filling that role at Prairie View A&M University, in Texas. But a permanent occupant helps provide long-term direction.
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At least 16 of the nation’s 105 historically black colleges are seeking permanent presidents. And while regular leadership turnover at higher-education institutions is not out of the ordinary, the rate at which presidents arrive at and depart from HBCUs has raised alarms.
On some campuses, interim presidents have provided a temporary respite — such as Ruth J. Simmons, the former president of Brown University, who is filling that role at Prairie View A&M University, in Texas. But a permanent occupant helps provide long-term direction.
Leading a black college comes with many of the same challenges that the rest of higher education faces. But simmering anxieties about retention and graduation rates — alongside their financial futures — have created a situation with many of the institutions on the brink.
TM2 Executive Search, a nonprofit group that recently concluded its first year of operation, hopes to strengthen black colleges by building up their leadership pipeline.
The firm, which is connected to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, was announced in March 2016 by four former college presidents, with the aim of bringing something different to the search process.
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“We’re looking for people who are prepared to come in, roll up their sleeves, and take our institutions to the next level,” Dorothy C. Yancy, a co-founder of the firm and former president of Shaw University, told The Chronicle at the time.
The group set modest goals for its first year, and had five “engagements,” according to Christopher Braswell, the firm’s president. Those goals, such as increasing the firm’s recognition and conducting five or six searches, were achieved for the most part, but the group has bigger plans for Year 2.
Higher Hopes
Although the group was hired five times in its first year, including by Benedict College and Stillman College, and was able to contact all HBCUs to let them know the service was available, TM2 had hoped for more.
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One reason the group may not have been able to land the searches it had hoped for is the tendency of colleges and universities to hire search firms they have engaged before, said Marybeth Gasman, a professor of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania.
“There’s definitely potential, but a lot of the HBCUs work with some of the bigger search firms, who have an enormous track record. Whenever you’re the new kid on the block, it makes it a little bit difficult,” she said.
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Many boards of historically black colleges, she added, also tend to be very conservative in choosing presidents, often opting for a candidate who has previously served as a president or is seen as similar to past presidents.
Mr. Braswell acknowledged that some of the group’s problems in securing searches were due, in part, to legacy structures that many institutions had in place to conduct searches. But in some cases where searches have been tumultuous in the past year, he said, the group’s expertise could have shone through if it had been involved.
For example, Jackson State University, in Mississippi, recently experienced a rocky search that resulted in the hiring of William D. Bynum, the president of another black college in the state, Mississippi Valley State University.
“We believe we have found someone who has the background and the leadership skills necessary to lead this institution through its present challenges and work with the Jackson State family to develop and implement a vision for the future,” said C.D. Smith, a trustee at Jackson State who led the search committee.
But others were less welcoming.
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The Clarion-Ledger, a newspaper in Jackson, reported that when Mr. Bynum was announced, one woman stood up and yelled, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Mr. Braswell said that had TM2 been involved, the group could have helped avoid trouble. (The firm did reach out to Jackson State in hopes of handling the search, he said.)
Contentious searches can be hard to avoid, though, and TM2 has a mechanism for smoothing the way for leaders who arrive under less-than-perfect circumstances.
The firm provides mentoring and coaching for leaders in their first year, and helps leaders and boards manage their expectations by pairing them up with a former college president on the TM2 staff. That, Mr. Braswell said, sets the group apart when it comes to managing searches at HBCUs.
With any leadership position, we have to give people a chance.
“You’ve had a lot of very good people who are no longer in their jobs because the board got rid of them,” Ms. Gasman said. “With any leadership position, we have to give people a chance.” She said that if TM2 could get more engagements, it might help ease such tensions. “It would be great if TM2 can fill that void and help ease that process with the expertise of its former presidents.”
“If the organization had a few very successful searches, especially at the presidential level,” she went on, “then they’ll be able to get a little bit more of a foothold in the area, and that could really make a difference.”
Adam Harris, a staff writer at The Atlantic, was previously a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education and covered federal education policy and historically Black colleges and universities. He also worked at ProPublica.