Clark Atlanta band suspended for suspected hazing

Clark Atlanta University has suspended performances of the "Mighty Marching Panthers" to investigate a hazing allegation.

University leaders made the decision on Friday. 

 "Even the possibility of hazing is unacceptable under any circumstance," read a statement issued by CAU. "Therefore, an investigation will commence immediately. The University aims to be thorough, comprehensive and aggressive in its review." 

The Mays High School band will substitute during CAU's first football game of the season on Saturday. CAU will play the University of West Alabama at Panther Stadium in Atlanta.

Ex-Clark-Atlanta President paid $1.1 million

Former Clark Atlanta University President William Broadnax was paid $1.1 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year, his last year in office. That put him among the 30 top-paid presidents of private colleges in the nation. The payout to Broadnax was more than 1 percent of the university's $86.6 million operating budget.

During his tenure at CAU, Broadnax's annual pay and deferred compensation, usually totaled more than $400,000 a year, among the top if not above the pay range at comparable institutions, said a college compensation expert.

CAU, with an enrollment of 3,800 students, has struggled financially in recent years, even before the recession.

The news outraged current and former professors, among whom Broadnax had been deeply unpopular.

"That is criminal," said retired professor Bob Holmes. "On what basis did the board of trustees agree to that? It's not a golden parachute because he didn't have a contract after five years. ... The alumni association should file a lawsuit against the board for malfeasance."

Broadnax contended his compensation package was closer to $800,000 than $1.1 million although he was unable to give an exact figure. He said he was guaranteed a retirement package when he became president because he had left a secure position at American University and would have to make unpopular decisions at Clark Atlanta. He is currently the Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at Syracuse University in New York.

The 66-year-old said the university had drained its endowment of $40 million for operating expenses before he came aboard and was teetering on bankruptcy. He had to to fire faculty and eliminate programs.

"What you see is the honoring of a contract," he said of his compensation. "They (the trustees) understood it was giong to be a fairly rough road if I did the things that needed to be done

"The only reason Clark Atlanta is still around is because of the steps we took and they were tough."

Clark Atlanta spokeswoman Donna Brock said the reported payout to Broadnax of $1,158,537 was correct and part of it was contractual. She didn't know the amount.

Ray Cotton, an expert on compensation for university presidents, said some of the pay may have been in the form of deferred compensation, but he questioned the wisdom of awarding that much to Broadnax.

“The fact of the matter is he received that amount of money in one fiscal year," said Cotton, a lawyer based in Washington. "With regard to Clark Atlanta peer institutions, that is an extraordinarily high number."

Only one other metro Atlanta college president came close to Broadnax's compensation. Emory University President James W. Wagner also received slightly more than $1 million.

Brock said current CAU President Carlton Brown does not have a retirement package.

CAU cancels classes amid layoffs

On the heels of a mid-semester "restructuring" that left 70 faculty members and 30 other staff unemployed, officials at Clark Atlanta University Monday abruptly cancelled classes. University officials classes were cancelled as it prepares to revise class schedules. The school said that all physical education classes had been canceled for the semester.

A letter to students from the university’s academic affairs office said that class schedule changes in the School of Arts and Sciences “will be made available to you shortly,” but that class schedules in the schools of Education, Business and Social Work would remain unchanged.

Clark Atlanta isn’t the only higher educational institution feeling the sting of a floundering economy.

On Friday, Clark Atlanta president Carlton E. Brown announced that an “enrollment emergency” exacerbated by current economic conditions required 100 faculty and staff members to be laid off.

Monday’s unscheduled holiday didn’t give any joy to some students.

“I’m very concerned,” said Carlos Leavitt, 24. “I’m worried Clark Atlanta is going to implode.”

A graduate student who is finishing his master’s thesis in American history, Leavitt was one of more than a half-dozen students and university employees interviewed on campus Sunday.

Ernest Moore, the university’s director of student housing and judicial affairs, called the staff reductions “a necessary action to address some old issues.

“It’s something that schools across the country are dealing with,” Moore said. “It’s regrettable, but necessary.”

This decade has been a difficult one for Clark Atlanta. A series of financial difficulties led to complaints and periodic protests. The university eliminated its engineering program over faculty and student objections. Enrollment has fallen from more than 5,000 at the start of the decade to less than 4,000 now, and about 200 students didn’t show up for this semester, citing financial difficulties.