MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. ― Florida Memorial University has named a woman as president.
Faculty members, students and alumni gave Roslyn Clark Artis a rousing welcome Tuesday as she became the 13th president of the historically Black university.
The Miami Herald reports Artis is an attorney and former provost at Mountain State University in West Virginia. She became interim president in June, a move that is typically reserved for temporary presidents who are already on staff. But Artis was an outside hire specifically brought in as interim president.
She said that she believes the university’s board of trustees was reluctant to give a long-term commitment to a new leader. That’s because the school has experienced turnover at the top. Former president Henry Lewis III lasted less than a year and his predecessor, Karl S. Wright, left abruptly in 2009 after two years.
Artis said she’s ready to move forward.
“We’re gonna win, and we’re gonna keep on winning,” Artis said, using football metaphors throughout her speech.
The board chairman, Charles George, said the university is at a crossroads. He said he was impressed by Artis because of her vision and tenacity.
