Patrick Swygert to Retire From Presidency of Howard University

H. Patrick Swygert, the president of Howard University since 1995, has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2007-08 academic year. For most of his tenure President Swygert, now 64 years old, has generally received high marks for his ability to raise money and restore morale to an institution that was reeling from sagging enrollment and financial difficulties when he took over. He has been very popular with Howard students.

But President Swygert has often been at odds with the Howard faculty. In March the faculty Senate sent a letter to the board of trustees claiming “an intolerable condition of incompetence and dysfunction at the highest level” of the university’s administration. Published reports also indicate that Swygert’s standing with the board of trustees is not as solid as has been the case in the past.

President Swygert is a graduate of Howard University and the Howard Law School. Before becoming Howard’s president, he was a member of the faculty and served in several administrative posts at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.