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Hazel O'Leary's Charge at Fisk: Financial Stability

By Gregory Brand
Black College Wire

Hazel O'Leary

When freshmen in Fisk University�s class of 2008 assemble on Aug. 21, they will be greeted by new president Hazel R. O�Leary, the former secretary of energy who has been selected to lead her alma mater toward financial stability.

''This university is on the road to a new day,'' said Reynaldo P. Glover, chairman of Fisk's board of trustees. ''I will never again entertain questions of whether Fisk will survive. It is a given.''

Tennessee�s 138-year-old private historically black institution, Fisk University, has officially appointed a new president to carry it into the next phase of its development.

In accepting the post July 13, O�Leary pledged to help make Fisk stronger, more stable and better for students because they �deserve everything we can provide for them.�

She succeeds interim president Charles Fuget, who stepped in eight months ago after the sudden resignation of former president Carolynn Reid-Wallace. O�Leary promised to complete a four-year term and has said she might consider extending that. If she does, O�Leary will be the first president to remain for more than three years since Henry Ponder, who resigned in 1996.

In recent years, the 138-year-old private university has been saddled with financial troubles despite high-profile partnerships with the likes of the U.S. Air Force, Vanderbilt University and NASA. Fisk�s financial problems have been so severe that some feared the school might be forced to close.

O�Leary graduated from Fisk in 1959 with a B.A. degree. She deflected questions about her age. �It is no secret that I�m 67 years old,� the Tennessean quoted her as saying at a news conference. �It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I�m a highly energized, fast-thinking, fast-moving kind of person.

�I thought back last week to the persons who, a great deal older than I, have taken on similar and greater challenges. I will tell you now, I�m up for the job.�

O�Leary earned a law degree at Rutgers University in New Jersey and worked in the energy business for 18 years.

Her career took a political turn when she became President Clinton�s first energy secretary in 1993, serving until 1997, when she resigned under fire for expensive official travel. She is one of a handful of African American women to have served in a presidential cabinet.

During her time at the Energy Department, O'Leary is credited with revamping the contracting system and cutting bloated payrolls, moves that saved taxpayers billions of dollars. She also promoted international trade aggressively.

For the past two years, she has owned and operated a consulting firm in Hilton Head, S.C.

�I am very happy that there is a new president,� said entering freshman Joy Henderson. My mother graduated from Fisk in the �80s and she was concerned about it staying open because she wanted me to go. With a new president, Fisk could still be there for my kids.�

O�Leary was selected from about 80 candidates and five finalists. Glover declined to name other finalists despite rumors that other high-profile alumni were up for the position.

Among those mentioned were philanthropist Camille Cosby, wife of actor Bill Cosby, and Alma Powell, wife of Secretary of State Colin Powell.

�Fisk is so positioned that, with the right president, its greatest days can be ahead of it and not behind it,� said Reavis Mitchell, chairman of the history department at Fisk.

Gregory Brand is a student at Tennessee State University.

Posted July 23, 2004