With the color guard and drum line in the lead, the Aristocrat of Bands high-stepped its way into the amphitheater at the center of Tennessee State University under the relentless late August sun.
Despite triple-digit temperatures, a few hundred students poured in to join a pep rally, dancing and swaying along to the music.
A few steps away in the humanities building, freshman Jaeden Wyatt recalled the moment he found out he got a full ride to TSU. He was inside a small bakery in Boston on a spring break trip to see his cousin.
“I jumped up and down in the middle of the bakery screaming,” he said.
While Wyatt considered other schools, choosing TSU was all about family. Both his parents are alumni, along with his grandmother, grandfather and aunt.
While Wyatt knew there were seismic changes happening in TSU leadership, that didn’t change anything for him. Once he got in, it was full speed ahead. He moved into a dorm on campus and dove right into his studies at the Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. Institute, an intensive three-year program that prepares students for careers in the dental or medical industries.
“It’s amazing here,” he said as the trumpets in the band blasted. “I’m glad I’m here.”
Interim President Ronald A. Johnson is also getting settled in at TSU, a public and historically Black college that along with the University of Tennessee is one of the state’s two land-grant institutions. He took up his role on July 1, just a few days after the university’s board announced he was tapped for a one-year appointment.
Johnson got right to work crafting a plan for his first 100 days with a focus on streamlining TSU’s operations and leadership, resolving lingering financial issues and getting everyone on the same page about short- and long-term goals for the school.
With a background in finance and higher education, Johnson is set on steering the university past recent upheavals and intense scrutiny from state leaders. He also wants to ensure the permanent president that follows him is left with a university that is as orderly, stable and cohesive as possible. Johnson’s contract is strictly for a year, and he will not be considered as a candidate for the permanent position.
“I’m here to roll up my sleeves to help this institution move to where it needs to be in a highly competitive higher education environment,” Johnson told The Tennessean in an August interview.
New leader: Tennessee State University taps Ronald A. Johnson as interim president
New leaders work to set things in order, drive TSU forward
Johnson isn’t the only one who’s had a rapid-fire introduction to leading TSU this year.
In the roughly four months before his appointment, the previous board of trustees was ousted in a controversial move by state lawmakers, a new board was appointed by the governor, a previous presidential search was scrapped and started over and longtime TSU President Glenda Glover retired.
The changes came after years of audits and financial scrutiny of the school by state leaders. Two recent audits both pointed to operational, financial and leadership issues at TSU. They did not reveal any fraud or wrongdoing on the part of the university. An audit conducted by an outside firm said TSU could do a better job documenting transactions and following its own procedures. The auditors also said that a 250% increase in scholarships from 2019 to 2023, which exacerbated student housing issues, was not sustainable.
While the effects of the upheaval are still unfolding, Board of Trustees Chair Dakasha Winton said she and her fellow trustees will be “hyper-focused” during their first year in leadership. They’re intent on gaining a deeper understanding of where the university stands and what it needs to move forward — which will also help identify what they’re looking for in a new president.
“I’m an attorney by training, so I love things that are in order,” Winton said with a smile.
Winton, who serves as senior vice president and chief government relations officer for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, said the board chose Johnson as an interim president based largely on his business and financial acumen.
From 2022-2023, he led Kentucky State University, also a public and historically Black university, as its interim president. When he arrived, KSU was rife with financial mismanagement and leadership resignations, and faced with the threat of closure. Johnson worked to restore financial credibility, build transparency and craft a long-term vision for the school. In July 2023, Koffi C. Akakpo was appointed as president at the school, which has since seen a slow-but-steady turnaround.
Johnson said his decision to take the one-year position at TSU was part of his larger mission to improve leadership at historically Black colleges and universities, also known as HBCUs. In 2018, while president of Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, Johnson co-founded the HBCU Executive Leader Institute to train fellow presidents and other college administrators.
He sees his role at TSU as a way to demonstrate his commitment to improving HBCUs.
“I am walking the talk,” Johnson said.
Along with his work in higher education, Johnson also has a long history in finance, including a role at the Federal Reserve.
“I’m a fiduciary. What that means is that I am hyper-concerned about other people’s money,” he said. “That is something that is at my core.”
It’s no surprise that resolving financial issues revealed in the audits of TSU is critical to Johnson’s mission.
“Every finding or observation that comes to me, no matter how small, is important because it’s telling me that I cannot guarantee that other people’s monies are being properly handled,” he said.
He said building transparency and trust by communicating well with stakeholders, including students, alumni, lawmakers and university staff, is also paramount.
The executive staff Johnson hired reflect his priorities for this year. He brought on Daarel Burnette to guide the future direction of the school, Bridgett Golman to improve the student experience and enrollment, and Darryl Thompson to oversee construction and deferred maintainenance on university buildings. All three worked with Johnson when he was the interim president at KSU.
While Johnson also wants to boost morale and rebuild trust between TSU and its stakeholders, he’s mostly set on looking ahead.
“Whatever happened yesterday is yesterday’s news,” he said. “What’s happening tomorrow is what we’re focused on.”
State leaders voice support for TSU
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has repeatedly said he wants to see TSU succeed and championed the new board members as they quickly took on their roles this spring.
“I’ve met with a number of students and leadership who share a deep commitment to the university, and we will continue to work alongside them to further secure TSU’s place as a leading institution,” Lee told The Tennessean in an Aug. 28 email.
As a Democrat who hails from Nashville and graduated from TSU, state Rep. Harold Love Jr. has been a key advocate for the university in the Tennessee statehouse. He’s been at the forefront of discussions over $2.1 billion in underfunding by the state to TSU. He also fought to uphold a deal with his fellow lawmakers to retain at least a few members of the previous TSU board. In late March, talks over the deal fell apart at the last minute.
From March: Republican lawmakers vacate full Tennessee State University board over Democratic objections
Four months after the vote to disband the board, Love spoke slowly and chose his words carefully. While many in the TSU community are still reeling, he said it’s important to give Johnson time to explain and enact his vision.
“I think that we still need a cooling off period, all of us,” Love said.
While he fought to retain some of the previous board members, Love also called the audits “deeply concerning” and said they uncovered issues that needed addressing.
Love plans to continue his effort to restore underfunding to TSU. While the topic tends to veer into talks about racism and often heightens tensions among lawmakers, Love hopes the conversation can shift to finding a solution. For him, it’s also about healing divides and righting a wrong that existed under both Democratic and Republican leadership in Tennessee.
“I’m hoping that my colleagues will use the same energy that we directed toward (vacating) the board … to finding solutions for TSU’s funding and TSU’s growth in this upcoming session,” Love said.
Republican Sen. Bo Watson, who lives in Hixson and represents part of East Tennessee, has also been heavily involved in decisions about TSU. He said he’s had conversations with both Johnson and Winton about the school’s finances. While there are still challenges at hand, Watson said the conversations have been positive and constructive.
“Our objective is and always has been for TSU to be the most successful land-grant … university in the country,” he said. “They just need a little help getting their house in order, and I think the new leadership is committed to doing that.”
Where the presidential search stands and what’s next
The long-term vision for TSU is up to the permanent president who will follow Johnson. While the board restarted the search for a new leader, they retained the firm that led the previous effort.
Johnson said he would be happy to help in the search and hiring process, if the board asks him to participate. The new search is expected to commence sometime this fall, with the goal of appointing a new president by July 1, 2025.
“This is a board that wants to see this institution … have a foundation for it to thrive. And that’s why it asked me to come,” Johnson said.
More information on the board, including its schedule, members and how to watch meetings via livestream, can be found at TNstate.edu/board.
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Publish date : 2024-09-22 01:00:00
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