James C. Renick, provost at Jackson State University in Mississippi, resigned abruptly without explanation. Dr. Renick is the former chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University.
Evelyn J. Leggette was promoted to fill the vacancy created with Dr. Renick’s departure. Since 2014, Dr. Leggette has served as associate vice president for academic affairs. Earlier, Dr. Leggette was dean of undergraduate studies and a professor of education. Dr. Leggette is a graduate of Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Ph.D from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
A week before Dr. Renick’s departure, the interim athletic director and an associate athletic director resigned. The head football coach was fired. The university stated simply that “Jackson State University does not comment on personnel matters.”
Following all the personnel changes, an op-ed column in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger stated “there has been constant reshuffling of personnel at JSU under [President Carolyn] Meyers’ tenure. We know some changes are inevitable, but we keep hearing whispers about problems at the school. No one seems to want to talk publicly about concerns at JSU, but rumors of problems continue to persist. I don’t know if there is a problem, but remember the old idiom: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
