Stillman College names Yolanda W. Page as new president, replacing Cynthia Warrick
Stillman College in Tuscaloosa has named its new president, the historically Black college's eighth, Yolanda W. Page.
Page will begin work at Stillman on July 1, after wrapping her academic duties as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Savannah State University in Georgia.
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At a morning Zoom meeting Thursday, retired Lt. Gen. Willie Williams, a Stillman trustee who chaired the presidential search committee, spoke about the process, which drew roughly 70 candidates for consideration over several months.
The 13-member committee held listening sessions with students, alums, faculty and staff, and community leaders, to hear what various stakeholders hoped for in the next president. Greenwood Asher & Associates, a global search firm, was enlisted to help uncover the best choices.
In addition to basics, such as terminal degrees, academic and administrative experience, the committee found in Page someone who plans to push the three Rs: recruitment, reputation and resources.
The board will set enrollment expectations and other performance goals to ensure everyone is on the same track, Williams said. Page plans to continue building on the college's visibility in the community, he added, and to help shape Stillman to align with emerging workforce needs and trends.
"I come from down the road a bit, down there in Moundville," he said, and returned home after spending 40 years in the Marine Corps. "Now I'm back and working as much as I can to help continue to advance those who are maybe coming up in an environment such as mine," for which educational processes are a clear necessity.
"We are super-excited to have Dr. Page to help us continue to move the institution forward," Williams said.
Page was selected at the board of trustees' May 4 meeting. Current President Cynthia Warrick announced last fall she would be leaving the post by June 2023. She has served at Stillman since 2017, and had been the college's first woman president.
Over more than 30 years in higher education, Page worked also as vice president in the division of academic affairs, and as a professor of English at Dillard University, a private college nationally ranked among the top 15 HBCUs, where she also earned a bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in business management. She earned a master of arts and doctor of philosophy degree in American and African-American Literature from Louisiana State University.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to lead Stillman College, and I thank the board of trustees for its confidence in me to lead this storied institution,” Page said in a written statement. Due to her current duties, she was not available to speak with news outlets this week.
Like her alma mater and former employer Dillard, Stillman is a private HBCU.
“I knew Stillman would be the right place to make the type of impact I’ve strived to make in my career and, ultimately, I’d like to continue to make as a president,” Page said.
“That impact is grounded in student, faculty, and staff success and providing each of those groups with the tools and the access to resources that will allow them to grow and achieve what they feel are their missions in life.”
Among her numerous awards are the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Chief Academic Officer Award for 2020; and recognition in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education as one of 25 outstanding women in higher education, for 2017. She has completed leadership development programs with the American Council on Education, CIC, and the Millennial Leadership Institute. She's studied in Ghana as a United Negro College Fund/Mellon International Faculty Seminar Fellow and is a certified Supplemental Instruction Supervisor. Page has extensive experience with high-risk students, first-generation students, and learning communities.
Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com..
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Yolanda W. Page named Stillman College's eighth president
