Morehouse College replaced its president and the chairman of its board of trustees late on Friday afternoon, after several months of turmoil at the historically Black institution. William Taggart, the college’s chief operating officer since 2015, is now the interim president.
Robert C. Davidson Jr., who served on the board since 1997, stepped down from his post as chairman on Friday, but will remain on the board through June. His replacement, Willie Woods, first joined the board in 2016.
In a letter sent out to the Morehouse community on Friday afternoon the board wrote, “With today’s action, the Board acknowledges that it has heard the voices of students, faculty, alumni, and many other key members of the Morehouse family, who have called upon all of those who love this historic institution to put aside out differences and put Morehouse and our mission first.”
The board encountered increasing criticism from faculty, students, and alumni after the board voted to not renew President John S. Wilson Jr.’s contract in January, leading the faculty to take a vote of no confidence in the board chairman in late March. Many said that the board never fully explained its decision and excluded students and faculty from the decision-making process.
Student trustees, who were not allowed to attend the January meeting where the vote to not renew Wilson’s contract took place, sued to be able to participate. A judge ruled in favor of the board, finding that the board’s bylaws permitted the board to exclude student and faculty trustees from meetings, but in his decision, the judge also praised the student trustees for their efforts to have their voices heard.
The judge concluded the decision with a quote from Frederick Douglass admonishing the board, which read in part, “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground.”
On April 2, some of Morehouse’s most prominent alumni signed a letter asking the board to do some self-reflection.
