Atlanta is in an uproar over the sudden dismissal of the president of one of the city’s iconic HBCUs, Morris Brown College.
According to reporting by Atlanta’s 11Alive, Dr. Kevin James published a lengthy Facebook post reacting to his termination and accused the school of not offering “specific cause or substantive explanation.” In the post, Dr. James details the events that transpired before and after his removal.
When asked about the abrupt change in leadership, a Morris Brown spokesperson replied with the following:
“Dr. James has played a meaningful role in guiding the institution through critical seasons of growth, resilience, and transformation. The Board thanks him for his dedication to the students, faculty, staff and alumni, and the broader Morris Brown College community, and wishes him well in his next chapter.”
That’s the type of endless word salad that would make Olive Garden blush.
For his part, Dr. James says that not only is his termination unjust and without cause, but it also comes at the potential expense of the hard-fought stability of the school.
“The timing of this decision is particularly troubling, as the institution is approaching its accreditation reaffirmation review in a few weeks,” James wrote. “Equally concerning is that this action disregards established governance best practices and my existing presidential contract, which extends through 2029.”
A trustee named Ms. Nzinga Shaw will stand in as the interim president of the school until a full-time replacement is hired. Much like the Phoenix that represents the rebirth of Atlanta, Morris Brown College has also risen from the proverbial ashes of losing accreditation back in 2002-2003 after egregious financial mismanagement was exposed. As a result, federal funding was cut, and enrollment bottomed out to the point of being untenable. Under his stewardship, Dr. James says all these issues were addressed and resolved, and his recent performance evaluation serves as proof of his successful tenure.
Why would Morris Brown, after all they have suffered, pull this move so close to the time that they are to be evaluated for accreditation? It screams instability and that is something the school can absolutely not afford right now.
BOSSIP will continue to update this story as it develops.
