Dr. Thomas became president of Central State University in July 2020. After taking a sabbatical, he will return to the university as a tenured professor. From 2011 to 2019, Dr. Thomas was president of Western Illinois University.
Taking on administrative positions relating to diversity are Alesia LeSane at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, Carl Ervin at Western Illinois University, Renita Miller at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Michelle Santana at Neumann University in Aston, Pennsylvania.
Jack Thomas was named the eleventh president of Western Illinois University in 2011. He served in that role until 2019. Dr. Thomas will succeed Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, who will step down as president of Central State University in July.
Dr. Jack Thomas was named the eleventh president of Western Illinois University in 2011. Previously, Dr. Thomas served as the university’s provost and academic vice president. Some of the president supporters alleged that racism was behind the campaign to oust the university’s first African American president.
Taking on new roles are Alphonso Simpson Jr. of Western Illinois University, Enzley Mitchell IV at Bethel College, Crystal R. Sanders at Penn State, Fred M. Ssewamala at Washington University, Kibibi Voloria Mack Shelton at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and Vashaun Wrice at Virginia State.
Tuskegee University, the historically Black educational institution in Alabama, has announced two finalists for the position of president: Lilly McNair, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Wagner College in New York, and Jack Thomas, president of Western Illinois University in Macomb.
The appointees are Rick Daniels at Rock Valley College in Illinois, Raphael X. Moffett at Texas Southern University in Houston, Jack Thomas of Western Illinois University in Macomb, and Peter Edmund Millet at Meharry Medical College.
Western Illinois University in Macomb has announced that is eliminating several degree programs due to low number of students pursing bachelor’s degrees in these fields. One of the degree program being eliminated is African American studies. Blacks make up 19 percent of the undergraduate student body at the university.
Here is this week’s roundup of African Americans who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Those taking on new administrative posts are Bernice B. Rumala at Trident University, Rita Walters at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Maurice D. Gipson at Arkansas State University, and F. Erik Brooks at Western Illinois University.
The honorees are Janice R. Franklin of Alabama State University, Jack Thomas of Western Illinois University, civil rights icon Myrlie Evers-Williams, Gladius Lewis of the University of Memphis, and Isaac Crumbly of Fort Valley State University.
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