The board of trustees of Fisk University, the historically Black college in Nashville, Tennessee, has announced the selection of Kevin D. Rome Sr. to serve as the institution’s sixteenth president. Dr. Rome will take office on June 30.
Currently, Dr. Rome is president of Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Before taking on this role in 2013, Dr. Rome was vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at North Carolina Central University in Durham. Earlier in his career, Dr. Rome held administrative posts a Morehouse College in Atlanta, Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, and Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis.
In accepting the post, Dr. Rome said “our nation’s HBCUs are facing an interesting chapter in history and I am certain Fisk will see its story of academic excellence, diversity, and integrity expand over the next 150 years. It will be my pleasure to work alongside the entire Fisk University family as we continue to cultivate scholars and leaders one by one.”
President Rome is a graduate of Morehouse College. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Georgia and a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.
I wish Dr. Rome well at Fisk. Lately, Fisk, like many of our HBCUs, has had a hard time keeping presidents.