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The Board of Trustees at South Carolina State University, a historically Black land-grant university, has voted to oust the institution’s president, James Clark.
Clark was fired Tuesday in a 10-to-3 vote for “cause,” but the board declined to elaborate on why Clark was dismissed, The State reported.
“The board thanks President Clark for his service to our university over the last five years of his term and wishes him much success in his future endeavors,” Rodney Jenkins, chair of the Board of Trustees, said during the virtual meeting.
The dismissal came after an 18-to-2 vote of no confidence in Clark's presidency by the Faculty Senate in March.
The university has faced recurrent enrollment declines and budget deficits over the last decade, which Clark was unable to reverse, faculty members and alumni told The State. Clark was hired as president in 2016, a year after the state Legislature and then-governor Nikki Haley fired the entire board because of the university’s ongoing financial struggles.
David Staten, president of the Faculty Senate, told the publication he was “pleased that the university decided to go in a new direction.”
Alexander Conyers, the university’s vice president of strategic alliances and initiatives, was appointed acting president in a unanimous vote by the board.
