IHL committee meets behind closed doors Thursday to narrow list of JSU president candidates

Ed Inman
·4 min read

A five-member search committee appointed by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees met Thursday in Jackson to narrow a list of what has been reported as 79 candidates vying to become the next President of Jackson State University.

Committee Chair Dr. Steven Cunningham, who convened the meeting at 10 a.m. at the Universities Center on Ridgewood Road, immediately entertained a motion for the committee to enter into executive session with more than a dozen JSU faculty, alumni and other supporters observing.

The motion was unanimously approved by committee members Dr. Ormella Cummings, Gee Ogletree, Hal Palmer and Bruce Martin. Martin attended the meeting remotely via a teleconference system with the other members present in person.

An Institutions of Higher Learning committee is narrowing the list of candidates from which to choose the next president of Jackson State University.
An Institutions of Higher Learning committee is narrowing the list of candidates from which to choose the next president of Jackson State University.

Kim Gallaspy, assistant commissioner for Government Relations and acting communications director for the IHL board, said she expected the committee to remain in executive session all day, and throughout the selection process.

Dr. Ivory Phillips, dean emeritus of JSU, was among the spectators on hand asked to leave the board room as the closed session began. A retired social sciences professor and former faculty senate president, Phillips is a 1963 graduate of Jackson State who received his Pd.D. in philosophy from the University of Washington in 1972.

Asked what qualities he would like to see in a new president, Phillips said the university needs “an individual who understands the institution and its mission and enthusiastically tries to promote that mission.”

Phillips described the mission of Jackson State as one “to fully develop the curriculum that would promote democracy in urban America,” and mentioned improved faculty and staff salaries as an area that needs urgent attention for the university to attract top leaders necessary to realize that mission.

Dr. Lucille Green, who described herself as the first person to obtain a doctorate degree from JSU at age 70 in 2010, and who currently serves as a adjunct professor in the university’s continuing education department for adult students, expressed frustration over the IHL’s past efforts to recruit and hire candidates for the job.

“They can do better,” Green said of the board, noting the recent high turnover rate in Jackson State’s top leadership post. “Every time you have a turnover there is a loss and when our enrollment drops it is not healthy.”

The university has had seven different presidents since 2000: Ronald Mason Jr. (2000-2010); Leslie Burl McLemore (Interim in 2010); Carolyn W. Meyers (2011-2016); Rod Paige (interim in 2016-2017); William B. Bynum (2017-2020); Thomas Hudson (2020-2023); and current Acting President Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony who was appointed in March of this year.

Hayes-Anthony has stated her desire to remain on the job as the university’s permanent president.

The IHL board has remained mum on whether she remains in active consideration for the post, however, citing the need for confidentiality among candidates.

Nettie Stowers, a 1971 graduate of JSU, questioned the secrecy surrounding the selection process and also stressed the need for a “stable executive administration.” She praised the institution for its historic role in providing opportunities for Mississippi’s Black population.

Having attended segregated public schools in her native Scott County in the 1960s, Stowers said, “If not for Jackson State we would not have had the opportunity to be educated.”

She also echoed recent comments by U.S. President Joe Biden who, after meeting with his Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) board of advisers at the White House earlier this month, charged that some states including Mississippi have short changed those institutions financially.

Specifically, Stowers questioned whether the IHL board has adequately upheld provisions agreed to in the Ayers v. Fordice litigation that resulted in a 2002 settlement.

That year, nearly three decades after the lawsuit’s inception, the state and a majority of plaintiffs reached an agreement to award Jackson State University, Alcorn State University, and Mississippi Valley State University $503 million over 17 years. The settlement included funds for new programs, new facilities, and endowments.

Biden has proclaimed Sept. 24-30, 2023 as National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week.

The JSU presidential search committee remained in executive session much of the day Thursday and had no action to report as of press time. The committee was expected to reconvene at 8 a.m. Friday to continue discussions.

It remains unknown when a new president will be formally announced for Jackson State. However, Gallaspy, in a prepared statement on Aug. 29, told the Clarion Ledger, “We expect to complete the search this fall.”

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: IHL committee considering candidates for JSU president Jackson MS