By Janice K. Neal-Vincent, Ph.D.,
Contributing Writer,
Ward 3 Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes lashed out against the Institutions of Higher Learning Board in a press conference which he called on the Jackson State University campus Sunday, November 26, 2023, at 2:30 p.m.
A seven-term elected councilman, Stokes voiced, “Everybody’s asking the same thing: ‘What’s going on in Jackson?’” In connection, he said that the board named Dr. Marcus Thompson as the new president, and that he would be sworn in Monday of this week. The councilman charged that this was a strategy used by the board as JSU students were on fall break and would not return until Wednesday, November 29, 2023.
Stokes claimed that the board had no respect for JSU students and was sending them “a strong message.”
Being away from the university, the students could not show their support for Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony, the acting president and only reported candidate to apply for the position of president. Several weeks ago, a rumor ran away like a rushing wind that the board had asked Dr. Hank Bounds (IHL commissioner from 2009-2015) to serve as president. Dr. Bounds commented via media that he was neither a candidate nor a finalist. Thus, Monday, November 27, 2023, was the day that Thompson was sworn in as JSU president.
In the past, presidents hired during the fall term have come aboard in fulfillment of their presidential duties on January first. Thus, Stokes was questioning, “Why the rush?” In grappling with the question, he read statements from print media. “Thompson said in The Jackson Advocate that he wasn’t a candidate, but the board made him president,” said Stokes.
Continuing his concern, the councilman articulated that Thompson “never should’ve been considered.” The hiring process “was not done fairly in the beginning.” Stokes added that there was a “hidden agenda” in the hiring process. “The only thing that comes to my mind is discrimination,” claimed the speaker.
According to Stokes, the board made a nonsensical appointment. “Our babies’ education and their future are at stake.” He further noted that Dr. Hayes-Anthony long ago received her doctorate [from the University of Illinois] and that Dr. Thompson, on the other hand, recently received his doctorate [from JSU] but “hasn’t even been hooded, and he’s coming to rule those who have.”
The speaker continued further that Dr. Hayes-Anthony ranks above Dr. Thompson in qualifications for the presidency of JSU. As he referenced her role as acting president, Stokes noted: “Dr. Anthony has done a wonderful job leading the university. Everybody knew she was qualified and…she brought pride to the City of Jackson.”
Councilman Stokes said emphatically that the black woman is the one who has “carried” the African-American race. Acknowledging that he had nothing against the black man, he asserted that “if it wasn’t for the black woman, the race would be extinct.” He used deductive reasoning when he claimed that Dr. Hayes-Anthony was a black woman who “graduated” and who can “run the university.”
Ward 3 City Councilman Kenneth Stokes, a Lanier High School and Jackson State University graduate, received his Juris Doctorate degree in law from Thurgood Marshall School of law at Texas Southern University (Houston, Texas). He is the longest serving African-American elected in Jackson City government.
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