Rutgers won't renew Newark chancellor's contract. City's mayor, political leaders object

Rutgers announced Wednesday that Nancy Cantor, two-term chancellor of Rutgers University's Newark campus, will step down at the end of her contract next summer — a move that surprised many and prompted opposition from the city's mayor, Ras Baraka, and many of Newark's prominent politicians and stakeholders.

Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway announced that Cantor's contract would not be renewed in June next year, in a public letter released to the university community Wednesday. He praised Cantor for her exemplary tenure and her "sterling" contribution to Newark in the same letter, saying, "There may be no other chancellor in the country as committed to the impact that a university can have on its host community as an anchor institution."

Baraka responded with a letter asking the university to reconsider its decision. State Sen. Teresa Ruiz — the Senate majority leader — and Assemblywomen Shanique Speight and Eliana Pintor Marin, all Newark Democrats, signed Baraka's letter. So did New Jersey Performing Arts Center CEO John Schreiber and several others.

"To discard Chancellor Cantor is taking two steps backwards,” Baraka wrote to Holloway. “It disrupts a long and hard-fought progress that Newark is journeying on. It flies in the face of the collective work that we have been doing many times with Chancellor Cantor’s insistence, her commitment, and sheer will."

Calling the decision a "grave error," Baraka asked that Rutgers reconsider and continue Cantor in her post at the end of her contract. Baraka said he was "deeply disheartened and disturbed" by Holloway's decision.

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Asked if Cantor supported the decision to end her tenure as chancellor, university spokesperson Dory Devlin said in a statement that "Cantor will conclude her second term as chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark on June 30, 2024," after 10 years in the position. Cantor will then have a one-year sabbatical at her current salary and the option of returning to the faculty as a university professor, with lifetime tenure.

Not stepping down voluntarily

Cantor is not stepping down voluntarily, say people close to her.

"I remain deeply engaged and committed to our collective pursuit of social mobility, publicly-engaged scholarship and anchor institution collaboration on equitable growth," Cantor told NorthJersey.com in an email when asked if she agreed that her tenure in Newark should end.

Cantor has successfully launched many initiatives in the university and with Newark. These include the Honors Living-Learning Community, which expands metrics for college admissions beyond test scores; RU-N to the Top, a financial aid program; three "collaboratives" between the city and the university for public safety, learning, and public-private partnerships; and an arts and civic dialogue center in Express Newark, just off the main campus.

"With enduring admiration and gratitude for Rutgers University-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s leadership, I am writing to inform you that, at the end of her second highly successful five-year term ... her service as chancellor will conclude," Holloway told faculty, staff and students in a public letter released Wednesday. He said Rutgers will soon launch a nationwide search for her successor.

Faculty caught by surprise

Holloway's announcement caught many faculty members by surprise because of her many achievements and commitment to the campus and city, to which both Holloway and Baraka testified in their letters.

"I am shocked. I am upset. I considered her a colleague, for sure," said Newark campus faculty member Paul Boxer. "This is a tremendous loss, and if there's anything about it that's problematic, it needs to be addressed and she needs to be restored."

Cantor arrived at Rutgers in January 2014, having previously served as provost at the University of Michigan, chancellor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and chancellor and president at Syracuse University.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers won't renew contract of Newark chancellor. City leaders object