Cynthia Warrick, president of Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the first woman to hold the position, has announced that she will retire from the presidency at the end of her current contract term on June 30, 2023. Dr. Warrick was named interim president in January 2017 and was elevated to president later that year.
“Dr. Warrick has been a significant part of the existence of Stillman College – her contributions are immeasurable,” said Donald Comer, chair of the Stillman College Board of Trustees. “The college has gone through some very rocky times, and she has been the anchor that has kept us on track. She has raised the brand of the institution and enhanced the college’s reputation.”
“Stillman is a special place and Tuscaloosa is a great college town. I will cherish the outpouring of support from the local community, the state, and the alumni that has contributed to the success that we have achieved during my tenure,” Dr. Warrick said. “I marvel at what we’ve been able to accomplish in a short period of time. Stillman is now at a place where a new president can build on the solid foundation of teaching, research, and community service that we have established in the past five years.”
Before becoming interim president at Stillman, Dr. Warrick had been serving as a senior fellow at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and as president of the Society for Diversity in the Biomedical Sciences, based in Houston, Texas. Earlier in her career, Dr. Warrick taught at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, Howard University in Washington, D.C., Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, and the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.
Dr. Warrick is a graduate of Howard University, where she majored in pharmacy. She earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and a doctorate in environmental science and public policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
It is always curious as to how HBCUs are measuring success. With just over 700 students, Stillman has a six-year graduation rate of 15% according to NCES.
The focus on graduation of students seems to allude a significant number of HBCUs and is a serious challenge unaddressed at most of these colleges and universities.