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Who will guide our ship in the 21 st century?
Black college presidents leaving their schools in droves
09/03/2002 11:02 PM EDT
By Megan Scott
Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) - In the past two years, more than two dozen historically black colleges - a quarter of
the nation's total - have lost presidents, with most saying they were quitting because of the mounting
pressure to raise money.
A steady decline in endowments and enrollments at many black colleges in recent years has made it
even more vital for presidents to keep knocking on doors and working the phones to bring in
donations.
``The challenge of just being president of any institution ... is just much more absorbing and difficult
because of the continuing responsibility of trying to raise money,'' said Thomas Cole Jr., who recently
retired as president of Clark Atlanta. ``It takes a toll on you over a period of time.''
When Johnetta Cole takes over at Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., this fall, she will inherit a $2
million budget deficit and an enrollment that saw a decline of almost 100 students last year.
``I'm fond of defining a college or university president as someone who lives in a big house and begs
for a living.'' said Cole, who between 1987 and 1996, raised nearly $114 million as president of
Spelman - the greatest amount ever raised for a historically black college at that time.
``Fund raising has become so central on the agenda of college and university presidents that I'm
concerned that some of our other tasks cannot get the attention they deserve,'' she said. ``Being an
intellectual leader, being a stateswoman or statesman - these things do not get as much attention as
they should because we're constantly looking for money.''
And black college presidents face more fund-raising obstacles than mainstream schools because of
their smaller, generally less wealthy, alumni bases.
Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., who heads the Historically Black College and University Initiative under
President Bush, says that his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, has had more than $700
million worth of construction over the past four years - much of it paid for through alumni support and
state money.
``Most of the HBCUs, they just don't have that kind of alumni capacity and that kind of community
capacity to meet those kinds of needs or challenges,'' Watts said.
That's one of the reasons presidents are leaving. Some are retiring early. Others are moving to
mainstream schools or to jobs in government. And others are taking lucrative jobs in the private
sector.
In Atlanta, Clark Atlanta, Morris Brown, Spelman, the Interdenominational Theological Center and
Morehouse School of Medicine - all part of the Atlanta University Center - have lost presidents in the
past 12 months.
Even black public institutions with larger endowments are losing leaders, such as Frederick
Humphries, who resigned in December as president of Florida A&M University.
Most fund-raising duties land on school presidents, along with their other jobs of representing the
school, maintaining academic standards, hiring staff and recruiting students, said Marybeth Gasman,
a Georgia State University professor who studies black colleges. If the endowment goes down,
trustees blame the president.
Black colleges generally rely on corporate donors instead of alumni for funding. Microsoft Corp.
recently gave $25 million to the United Negro College Fund to upgrade technology at its 39 member
institutions. Other funding has come from celebrities, such as Oprah Winfrey, who donated $1 million
in scholarships to Morehouse in 1997.
Radio star Tom Joyner is helping with his syndicated show, which travels to 30 cities each year to
raise money for black schools.
``Black colleges have tended to rely on corporate funds and a lot of times they don't ask their
alumni,'' Gasman said. ``It takes more money to go out there and ask and cultivate alumni donors
than it does to get one big corporate donor.
``It's important to get those alumni donors because they'll continue to give when those corporate
donors are done.''
When endowments go down, it becomes tougher to pay for top faculty, new technology or
construction and renovation.
Some experts say the recent changes have simply been cyclical.
William Harvey, who directs the Office of Minorities in Higher Education for the American Council on
Education in Washington, said the average tenure of any college president is five to seven years.
Black college presidents just don't spend 25 years at a school like Benjamin E. Mays did at
Morehouse, he said.
And many of the new presidents are highly qualified, said Gasman. Besides Johnetta Cole coming to
Bennett, Beverly Daniel Tatum, the acting president of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, will
become Spelman's president this fall.
Walter Broadnax, an American University dean, is taking over at Clark Atlanta, and Henry Ponder,
former president of Fisk University and Benedict College, is the new president of Talladega College in
Alabama.
``There's a really good class of presidents with past experience, lots of fund-raising experience,''
Gasman said. ``I see this as actually being a good thing for black colleges.''
BlackAmericaWeb.com Staff
2002 BlackAmericaWeb.com, Inc.
Who will guide our ship in the 21 st century?
Black college presidents leaving their schools in droves
09/03/2002 11:02 PM EDT
By Megan Scott
Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) - In the past two years, more than two dozen historically black colleges - a quarter of
the nation's total - have lost presidents, with most saying they were quitting because of the mounting
pressure to raise money.
A steady decline in endowments and enrollments at many black colleges in recent years has made it
even more vital for presidents to keep knocking on doors and working the phones to bring in
donations.
``The challenge of just being president of any institution ... is just much more absorbing and difficult
because of the continuing responsibility of trying to raise money,'' said Thomas Cole Jr., who recently
retired as president of Clark Atlanta. ``It takes a toll on you over a period of time.''
When Johnetta Cole takes over at Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., this fall, she will inherit a $2
million budget deficit and an enrollment that saw a decline of almost 100 students last year.
``I'm fond of defining a college or university president as someone who lives in a big house and begs
for a living.'' said Cole, who between 1987 and 1996, raised nearly $114 million as president of
Spelman - the greatest amount ever raised for a historically black college at that time.
``Fund raising has become so central on the agenda of college and university presidents that I'm
concerned that some of our other tasks cannot get the attention they deserve,'' she said. ``Being an
intellectual leader, being a stateswoman or statesman - these things do not get as much attention as
they should because we're constantly looking for money.''
And black college presidents face more fund-raising obstacles than mainstream schools because of
their smaller, generally less wealthy, alumni bases.
Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., who heads the Historically Black College and University Initiative under
President Bush, says that his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, has had more than $700
million worth of construction over the past four years - much of it paid for through alumni support and
state money.
``Most of the HBCUs, they just don't have that kind of alumni capacity and that kind of community
capacity to meet those kinds of needs or challenges,'' Watts said.
That's one of the reasons presidents are leaving. Some are retiring early. Others are moving to
mainstream schools or to jobs in government. And others are taking lucrative jobs in the private
sector.
In Atlanta, Clark Atlanta, Morris Brown, Spelman, the Interdenominational Theological Center and
Morehouse School of Medicine - all part of the Atlanta University Center - have lost presidents in the
past 12 months.
Even black public institutions with larger endowments are losing leaders, such as Frederick
Humphries, who resigned in December as president of Florida A&M University.
Most fund-raising duties land on school presidents, along with their other jobs of representing the
school, maintaining academic standards, hiring staff and recruiting students, said Marybeth Gasman,
a Georgia State University professor who studies black colleges. If the endowment goes down,
trustees blame the president.
Black colleges generally rely on corporate donors instead of alumni for funding. Microsoft Corp.
recently gave $25 million to the United Negro College Fund to upgrade technology at its 39 member
institutions. Other funding has come from celebrities, such as Oprah Winfrey, who donated $1 million
in scholarships to Morehouse in 1997.
Radio star Tom Joyner is helping with his syndicated show, which travels to 30 cities each year to
raise money for black schools.
``Black colleges have tended to rely on corporate funds and a lot of times they don't ask their
alumni,'' Gasman said. ``It takes more money to go out there and ask and cultivate alumni donors
than it does to get one big corporate donor.
``It's important to get those alumni donors because they'll continue to give when those corporate
donors are done.''
When endowments go down, it becomes tougher to pay for top faculty, new technology or
construction and renovation.
Some experts say the recent changes have simply been cyclical.
William Harvey, who directs the Office of Minorities in Higher Education for the American Council on
Education in Washington, said the average tenure of any college president is five to seven years.
Black college presidents just don't spend 25 years at a school like Benjamin E. Mays did at
Morehouse, he said.
And many of the new presidents are highly qualified, said Gasman. Besides Johnetta Cole coming to
Bennett, Beverly Daniel Tatum, the acting president of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, will
become Spelman's president this fall.
Walter Broadnax, an American University dean, is taking over at Clark Atlanta, and Henry Ponder,
former president of Fisk University and Benedict College, is the new president of Talladega College in
Alabama.
``There's a really good class of presidents with past experience, lots of fund-raising experience,''
Gasman said. ``I see this as actually being a good thing for black colleges.''
BlackAmericaWeb.com Staff
2002 BlackAmericaWeb.com, Inc.