The board of trustees’ ad-hoc presidential search committee of South Carolina State University unanimously voted to recommend Alexander Conyers to be the next president of the university, pending approval of the full board.
In March 2021, Conyers was appointed vice president for strategic alliances and initiatives at the university. The board named Conyers acting president on July 13, 2021, and changed the designation to interim president on August 25, 2021.
Conyers had a 28-year career in the U.S. Army. He served at the Pentagon as deputy assistant secretary of the Army.
Conyers is an alumnus of South Carolina State University, where he majored in criminal justice. He holds a master’s degree in corrections from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in public administration from Troy University in Alabama.
HBCUs need to stop hiring people to serve as the titular head of the university when they are woefully lacking any substantive upper echelon HBCU administrative experience. These buffoons need to realize that having earned a degree from an HBCU does not automatically qualify to lead the university when the overwhelmingly majority of their professional work experience is at HWCUs, White corporate America, or the military.
A university president’s role has changed over the years. He/She does not need to have a strong academic background. That is what the academic dean is for. A college president, these days, needs to have a strong backbone, strong leadership skills, and the ability to raise funds. These are important to today’s university as it evolves, grows, and diversifies.
Hey Audrey,
You’re sadly mistaken about the role of a university president and let alone at an HBCU. Your comment is the years of political correctness and status quo according to what so-called leaders in higher education are pontificating. In other words, you have clearly embraced the “corporate model” for higher education which view students as “customers” and “faculty” as mere workers.
In my view, that’s the wrong type of mentality to have and then HBCUs wonder why alumni(a) are hesitant to donate money to their school based upon the manner they were mistreated. Finally, when have you ever challenged the decisions of any college president publicly? I rest my case.