Paige to serve as interim president for several months

By Shanderia K. Posey

Editor

Jackson State University alumnus and former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige has been chosen to serve as interim president of Jackson State University effective Nov. 7.

The announcement was made by Glenn Boyce, commissioner of Higher Education, Nov. 1 following a morning emergency Institutions of Higher Learning Board meeting in Jackson in which members voted unanimously to select Paige. Before making the announcement Boyce said, “Jackson State University is an absolutely wonderful university with tremendous faculty, staff, students and administration. We are absolutely in a time of transition … but the leadership that sits in this room will take the university forward.” Several JSU officials attended the meeting including Evelyn J. Leggett, provost and senior vice president for Academic and Student Affairs, who will serve as acting president until Paige begins his role.

“Dr. Paige absolutely has been an educator for a lifetime,” Boyce said. “I think that Dr. Paige played an incredible role throughout his history in taking and making education better for young people across this nation. To have a man of Dr. Paige’s stature to serve as interim president for Jackson State University speaks volumes about his love for the university.” The College Board will begin the process of searching for a permanent JSU president at its next meeting this month.

Boyce said generally the process takes five to seven months and will include online listening sessions. A campus search advisory committee will be established, and JSU students, alumni, faculty and administration officials will have the opportunity to serve on committees for input on who will be the next president. While Boyce promised expediency, he also said, “We will not do it so fast that we won’t get great candidates.” Per College Board policy, interim presidents cannot apply for the permanent president position. Carolyn Meyers, who served as JSU’s president since 2011 turned in her letter of resignation effective Nov. 1 last week.

Paige, who is currently retired and living in Houston, Texas, was not present for the announcement but did answer media questions via conference call. Having just been chosen for the position, Paige expressed he will determine a “top priority” for his role after talking with faculty and administrators, but planned to have working strategies for JSU in a matter of days. “I’m a Jacksonian. I’m interested in Jackson State being the greatest university it can be,” Paige said as to why he was interested in the interim position. “I think it has unlimited potential and I appreciate the opportunity to play a part in that role.” Boyce was clear that as for the College Board, a top priority would be the recent financial matters JSU faces.

The College Board hired an accounting firm to oversee JSU’s finances recently, saying spending was exceeding revenue and JSU’s cash reserves were running low. As of June 30, JSU had $4 million in cash on hand, down from $37 million in 2012. The university has announced a plan to rebuild reserves. “We are here today transitioning from one outstanding leadership to another,” Leggett said. “We are excited that the Board has selected Dr. Rod Paige. We know his work. We have his bio, and we know the contributions he can make.” As for who will eventually be chosen as president of JSU, Leggett said, “My thinking is that whoever can move the university forward, whether that’s an alumnus or non-alumnus should be considered.” Serving on the Thomas B. Fordham’s Institute’s Board of Trustees since 2005, Paige was inducted into the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Hall of Fame earlier this year. With co-author Elaine Witty, Paige published “The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing It Is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time” in 2010.

In addition to graduating from Jackson State, Paige served as head coach for the university, coaching the Tigers on a historic day for college football and Mississippi. On Oct. 21, 1967, coach Paige and the Jackson State Tigers, in a matchup against coach Eddie Robinson and the Grambling Tigers, broke the color barrier at Veterans Memorial Stadium, becoming the first historically black universities to play a game in the stadium, which is now the home stadium for Jackson State University. He and his wife, Stephanie Nellons-Paige, vice president for USA Funds’ National Engagement, recently served as honorary chairs of the Jackson State University National Alumni Association’s biennial Black Tie Scholarship and Recognition Gala. For 10 years, Paige served as the dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University, a comprehensive metropolitan historically black university in Houston. While at Texas Southern, Paige established the university’s Center for Excellence in Urban Education, a research facility that concentrates on issues related to instruction and management in urban school systems. During his time at Texas Southern, Paige was elected to serve as a trustee and officer of the Board of Education of the Houston Independent School District. In 1994, he left TSU to become superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, which was the nation’s seventh-largest school district at the time. Paige was named National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators in 2001.

He was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the seventh U.S. Secretary of Education. Following that role, Paige was named a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He serves on the boards of the Strake Foundation and the Blue Cure Foundation. He has served on the boards of the Broad Foundation, the New England College of Finance and Business and the News Corporation. He also served on the National Council of Economic Education’s Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. In addition to a bachelor’s degree from Jackson State, Paige holds a master’s degree and doctoral degree from Indiana University.