After just less than one year in office as the ninth president of Grambling State University in Louisiana, Willie D. Larkin has resigned his post. While President Larkin resigned, his comments appear to show that he was being forced out of his position. President Larkin said that “I am not a quitter. I committed to serving Grambling State University for seven years or as long as I was allowed to do so.”
In February, the faculty senate at Grambling issued a resolution of “no confidence” in President Larkin, citing “a vague administrative response to pressing issues such as falling enrollment, fundraising and the loss of the school’s nursing program.” Dr. Larkin also had alienated several members of the board of the state system who eventually called for his ouster.
In a farewell statement, President Larkin listed his accomplishments in his short time as leader of the university and stated “although I originally envisioned a much longer period in service, I realize that we all have a set time in which we must carry out the duties assigned to us. It is not so much how much time you have, as to what you do with the time allowed that matters most.”
Before becoming president of Grambling, Dr. Larkin was the chief of staff at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He held that post since 2012. He formerly served as chief of staff for the University of Wisconsin Colleges and Extension.
Dr. Larkin holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tuskegee University in Alabama. He earned a Ph.D. in agricultural education at Ohio State University.
