The board of trustees at Bethune-Cookman (B-CU) had the option to promote their most qualified candidate to the position of university president – but instead they voted for him to step down from his interim position. Now, they face a student protest.
Two search committees and a student committee recommended that Dr. William Perry, who served as interim university president since July 2023, be made the permanent president of B-CU. Four out of the five university trustees (Jennifer Adams, Jeffrey Branch, Deveron Gibbons, and Courtney Rhodes) did not vote in favor of Berry despite such approval. The fifth trustee member (Joyours “Pete” Gamble) did not vote.
Last Friday, students showed up to the board’s meeting to protest that the four trustees who made the decision should step down. Following that meeting, none of those members have resigned and they have elected a new board leader.
Dr. Perry alleged that the trustees had an ulterior motive and lacked integrity in their decision. He described the event to Fox 35 Orlando. “They’d gone into the back room, had a cabal among them, and got the result that they wanted,” he said.
The students seem to share his same sentiment. It is not unusual that the B-CU student body refuses to let their voices go unheard, considering previous 2023 protests regarding unsafe living conditions on campus and the the university’s failure to hire of NFL Hall of Fame athlete Ed Reed as football coach.
B-CU student Sagal Buchanan spoke to News 6 Orlando, expressing feelings of distrust toward the B-CU trustees.
“As a student leader, I don’t trust any of them. I don’t have a sense of home or sense of kindness that comes from any of them. It’s also like enough is enough,” Buchanan said.
Dr. Perry stated that B-CU’s university affairs flourished while serving as interim president. He gave examples, such as the increase in enrollment by 24 percent, outstanding maintenance issues having been addressed and the general satisfaction that resonated amongst both students and alumni. 74% more students committed to B-CU in the fall as well.
Students at B-CU argue that the trustees should have honored their approval of Dr. Perry, but SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) has stated that no violation has occurred.
“There is no SACSCOC standard that requires boards to accept any recommendation from a presidential search committee. Being out of compliance could result in the institution being placed on warning or probation, or dropped from membership. Those are always options our board has and it would be their determination. Losing accreditation would mean that the institution would no longer be a member of SACS and students would not be able to receive federal financial aid.”
Prior to working at B-CU, Dr. Perry served on the faculty of the University of Illinois from 1991 to 2011. Having been the senior staff editor of Ebony and managing editor of Jet, he became an award-winning journalist even earlier. The former interim president started his tenure at B-CU in 2015 as a professor for the university’s Department of Mass Communications and was named Senior Vice President and Provost of Bethune-Cookman University by 2021.
Dr. Perry informed news sources that the university’s accrediting body will be evaluating this situation.
