Morehouse College President Walter E. Massey announced Thursday that he will retire from his post at the end of the academic year.
Massey, 69, said Thursday that Morehouse's Opening Convocation was "bittersweet."
He said he had been talking with the board for two years about retiring and waited to do so until key leadership positions were filled and the school's ambitious capital campaign had come to a close.
"I'm leaving the college in very good shape," he said at the ceremony. "We have a key and dedicated professional faculty. We've increased levels of efficiency and Morehouse is a fiscally sound institution."
He touched on the highs and lows Morehouse has experienced in the last year in his speech, including the butal murder of a student by current and former Morehouse students, and the college's tumble in the Black Enterprise magazine rankings of best colleges for African American students.
Massey called the magazine "misinformed."The rating dropped from number one to 45 this year, in part because of low graduation rates.
"By any standard, we are a better institution then when they ranked us two years ago," he said.
Morehouse senior Marcus Edwards, who serves as the school's student government president, said Massey's leadership -- particularly through the past troubled months-- has inspired students.
"He has done an amazing job and never tried to sweep anything under the rug" Edwards said. "He's a great leader."
Massey took office in 1996 and presided over years of financial success for the college. It recently finished an ambitious $105 million capital campaign, raising $15 million above that goal, and built a 74,000 square foot Leadership Facility. Among those contributing to the campaign were Oprah Winfrey, who donated $5 million.
The a physicist and former director of the National Science Foundation was provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at the University of California before coming to Morehouse.
He is Morehouse's ninth president and a 1958 graduate of the college. He has his wife, Shirley Anne, have two sons.
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3 comments:
Get out of town! Well, add that to the growing list of HBCU's looking for a president!
Walter Massey is an outstanding educator, leader, and gentleman. Perhaps another HBCU will be able to convince him to come out of retirement and have a brief stint in its top position.
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