William L. Pollard, president of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, part of the City University of New York system, has announced that he is stepping down from his post. He will stay on until a successor is named. Over the past several years, President Pollard has been widely criticized by students and faculty on a wide range of issues. On two occasions the faculty had issued a vote of no confidence in Dr. Pollard’s leadership.
But CUNY chancellor Matthew Goldstein issued a statement which read in part: “We are deeply grateful for all that President Pollard has done to advance the vitally important mission of the College during the past three and one-half years. The president has worked diligently to focus this important institution in Central Brooklyn on student-centered goals and objectives, enhancing faculty instruction in the classroom, and on utilizing the new and modern campus facilities in creative and effective ways.”
From 2002 to 2007 Dr. Pollard served as president of the University of the District of Columbia. Before joining Medgar Evers College, he was vice president of the National Association for State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.
Dr. Pollard is a graduate of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. He holds a master of social work degree from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. in policy and planning from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Pollard’s doctoral dissertation was entitled “Black Welfare Developments in the Southeast, 1890-1915.” He had to defend his dissertation work with a panel of scholars that included Professor John Hope Franklin.
