Jermaine Whirl has been named the sole finalist for president of Savannah State University, the oldest public historically Black university in the state of Georgia.
According to the most recent data from the Department of Education, Savannah State University enrolls about 2,900 undergraduate and 200 graduate students. Black students represent about 85 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Whirl has nearly two decades of experience in academic and administrative roles at public colleges and universities throughout Georgia and South Carolina. For the past five years, Dr. Whirl has served as president of Georgia-based Augusta Technical College. During his tenure, the college has experienced significant growth in enrollment, including a 20.3 percent increase in total student enrollment over the past three academic years.
Prior to his current role, Dr. Whirl held several leadership roles at Greenville Technical College, including vice president of learning and workforce development and vice president of economic development and corporate training. Earlier, he held dean appointments at Gwinnett Technical College and Savannah Technical College. He previously served as a full-time faculty member at Georgia Southern University and East Georgia College.
“I am deeply honored to be named the finalist for the presidency of Savannah State University,” said Dr. Whirl. “Savannah State has a rich history of producing world class artists, educators, scientists, military leaders, corporate executives and public policy advocates. I look forward to working with the students, faculty, staff, alumni and the greater Savannah community to continue the legacy of the state’s first public HBCU.”
Dr. Whirl holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Winthrop University in South Carolina, an MBA from Charleston Southern University, a master’s degree in adult education and community leadership from what is now Georgia Southern University, and a doctorate in organizational leadership from Valdosta State University in Georgia.
We see time and time again so-called Blacks in higher education who profess how much they love HBCUs (i.e., Dr. Jermaine Whirl). Yet, all these people entire higher education and professional experience is from Historically White Colleges and Universities. They you wonder our beloved HBCUs continue to have these ongoing institutional, budgetary, and operational problems. It’s 2025, the so-called HBCU community need to realize that ‘White ice is not colder’.
PWI (Predominantly White Institutions) are the majority of Institutions in the nation. I don’t agree that working for a PWI contributes to Institutional, budgetary, or operational problems. There certainly are other causes including lack of funding, decreases in enrollments, lack of revenue, and persistent cost increases are a few reasons.
HBCU’s have generally had to try to reach their goals with less funding & resources than some of their counterparts. Also, as a whole HBCU alumni giving $ back to their Alma matter has been lacking across the board. That impacts endowments, scholarships, etc.