As top college administrators gather in Washington this week for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 42nd annual Legislative Conference and next week’s White House Initiative on Black Colleges conference, the networking conversations about the November presidential elections and politics on Capitol Hill are likely to be laced with a different kind of name dropping: who is in the running for the presidency of what college?
With a dozen or so historically Black colleges and universities actively engaged in searches for presidential candidates and several more expected before the school year ends, speculation abounds over who head hunters and presidential search committees are eyeing for the unusually large number and wide range of posts open at the same time.
From Florida A&M (FAMU) University to Fisk University, North Carolina Central University to Morehouse College and more, job opportunities abound, paying handsome salaries to candidates willing to take on the myriad challenges facing higher education today, particularly HBCUs.
None of the nearly dozen higher education veterans or head hunters would speak for attribution about what they know, citing the highly tentative nature of any possibilities at this point in the search at most institutions and the fact, in some cases, that they may be on a prospects list and not know it.
Still there was no shortage of name dropping of a mix of men and women with experience and credentials that make them worthy of consideration, say those interviewed.
For sure several search lists will probably include Dr. Michael Lomax, president of UNCF and former president of Dillard University, Dr. Leonard Haynes, the veteran of several White House administrations and current overseer of Title VIII programs, and Dr. Glenda Glover, dean of the college of business at Jackson State University. She is one of a handful of women college administrators in the nation who has a Ph.D., a law degree and is a CPA.
Speculation abounds about Dr. Walter Strong, executive vice president at Dillard University and a former Meharry Medical College executive, considered by colleagues as one of the best advancement officers in the nation.
