At least 15 of the nation’s 104 historically black colleges are looking for new presidents at a time when many of those institutions are seeking to redefine their missions and modernize their operations.
The large number of vacancies at black colleges is largely due to the rising demands of the job and the strain that the economy has put on the institutions, said John S. Wilson Jr., executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“Everybody wants more from presidents,” he said, including students, faculty members, and members of governing boards. In addition, President Obama’s goal of increasing the nation’s college-completion rate is putting more public pressure on historically black colleges, which in general have had lower graduation rates than traditionally white institutions.
Despite the challenges, the openings should be seen not as a crisis, but as an opportunity for governing boards “to set a new direction and tone for what executive leadership means” at historically black colleges, said Mr. Wilson, who has repeatedly called on the institutions to improve their performance and send a more positive message about the role that they play in higher education.
Money Troubles
Many historically black colleges are facing existential questions about their future. The colleges enrolled practically all African-American students 50 years ago but now attract only a small fraction of those students. Meanwhile traditionally white institutions have sought to recruit black students to improve diversity on their campuses.
At the same time, the economic downturn has been particularly hard on black colleges, most of which have smaller endowments and lower rates of alumni giving than majority-serving institutions. Those already meager resources have been stretched thin during the downturn because of the financial needs of black students, who tend to come from poorer families than white students.
The mounting economic challenges appear to be taking their toll on presidents of historically black colleges. “Yeah, I’m tired. I need to relax and refresh,” said Julianne Malveaux, who is resigning after five years as president of Bennett College. “Had I not left, I would have asked for a leave of absence,” she said.
“To everything there is a season, and my season is done,” said Ms. Malveaux, who counts a $21-million capital campaign and the campus’s first new construction in 28 years among her key accomplishments.
While Ms. Malveaux chose to leave, several other presidents of black colleges have been urged to step down in recent months as their institutions struggle with financial and other difficulties.
Hazel R. O’Leary, president of Fisk University, announced last month that she will leave her post in December, more than three years after alumni began calling for her resignation. Fisk was already in financial trouble when Ms. O’Leary became president in 2004, and the university has been entangled in a long-running court battle over attempts to sell a portion of its valuable collection of 20th-century art, donated by Georgia O’Keeffe, in order to raise money.
In December the university’s accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, put Fisk on probation, giving the institution a year to fix its finances.
Accreditation problems are plaguing two other black colleges that are searching for presidents. Cornell Thomas, named president of Jarvis Christian College in 2009, resigned from his position just weeks after the college was placed on warning by the Southern Association in December.
Robert L. Satcher, president of Saint Paul’s College, resigned last year, a few months after the Southern Association put the institution on probation for a second consecutive year.
New Skills Needed
The large number of openings at historically black colleges are just the latest evidence that many of the institutions need to find leaders with different skills, Mr. Wilson said. “The demands have changed on all higher-education leaders, but particularly for leaders at historically black colleges,” he said.
Presidents of black colleges now have to compete more strongly with majority-serving institutions for a larger share of African-American students, promote the value of an institution beyond its historical mission, and raise money based on that value. Perhaps most important, many black college leaders must focus on increasing the number and rate of students who finish their degrees, he said.
Charlie Nelms, chancellor of North Carolina Central University since 2007, said the biggest change in his job over the years has been the amount of time he spends on raising money. Another difference, he said, is that his university must focus more attention on student success rather than just access.
A more fundamental shift could occur at historically black colleges if governing boards are willing to look broadly at the type of candidates they consider to fill presidential vacancies, he said. “In order to be competitive and responsive, we have to bring a fresh perspective,” Mr. Nelms said.
Mr. Wilson also thinks boards should look beyond the usual candidates to fill leadership positions. “For those institutions willing to think outside the box, there probably is a good crop of leaders to choose from. I mean, thinking beyond their own alumni base or the base of people who are already within” historically black colleges, he said. “For those not willing to think outside the box, there is a much smaller list.”
In recent years, some notable presidents at historically black colleges have come not only from alumni of majority-serving institutions but also from outside academe, including Michael J. Sorrell, an Oberlin College graduate who was a corporate attorney before becoming president of Paul Quinn College in 2007.
An outspoken advocate of reform at historically black colleges is Walter M. Kimbrough, who earned a degree from the University of Georgia and was working at Albany State University in the Peach State before he was named president of Philander Smith College in 2004. In July, he will be taking over as president of Dillard University in New Orleans.
While Mr. Kimbrough and Mr. Sorrell have garnered praise for seeking to turn around troubled black colleges, they have also occasionally ruffled feathers by downplaying the historical role of those institutions.
Mr. Kimbrough, however, is unapologetic, saying the survival of the black colleges depends on their ability to compete with other institutions.
“It’s not to say that history isn’t important, but we need to compete,” he said. “Historical relevance? Nobody cares about that anymore.”
