Dillard Students Impressed by First Candidate in Presidential Search

By Shearon Roberts and Shawnee McFarland
Black College Wire

John S. Wilson Jr. once headed the Greater Boston Morehouse Alumni Assocation

The first of two finalists in Dillard University�s presidential search -- John Silvanus Wilson Jr. of George Washington University's Virginia Campus -- impressed some students in two days of evaluation sessions, but the students said they would not make their final decision until screening the second candidate.

Dr. Michael Lomax left the top job at the 1,953-student New Orleans university June 1 to become CEO and president of the United Negro College Fund. Dr. Bettye Parker Smith, provost/vice president for academic affairs, has been serving as interim president until a permanent one takes office.

Wilson, executive dean at the Ashburn, Va., campus, created a buzz at Dillard despite the search committee�s attempt to keep the process hush-hush, concealing the identities of both candidates to the public and the news media.

Wilson's name was disclosed by several students who attended the evaluation sessions with faculty, staff and students on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24. The second candidate visits Sept. 28 and 29.

Wilson, a Philadelphia native who has been director of foundation relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, brings a resume stocked with Ivy League-level administration skills. He became MIT�s assistant provost for outreach in 1996 and was also an assistant professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Michael Green, a freshman urban studies and public policy major, said that during the session many students asked Wilson what he would do to tackle Dillard�s financial woes.

Charles Ferguson, chair of the board and of the search committee, had said in the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the university fell short of its budget expectations and that drastic steps, such as pay cuts or layoffs, were not an option. He added that if need be, the university�s endowment served as a last resort.

Green said Wilson noted that he raised about $50 million for MIT.

�On an administrative level, there are differences between an Ivy League and an HBCU,� Green said. �They have more prestige and resources.�

But Green said that Wilson was quick to point out his fund-raising abilities for black colleges. Wilson headed the Greater Boston Morehouse Alumni Association in 1999.

Wilson told students that �fund raising is not a solution to debt, but it is necessary for a school to survive,� according to Green. Wilson also described the university as �hemorrhaging� from its outstanding debts, and that before the university sought to bring more funds in, it must show that it could manage the funds it currently holds.

Exodie Roe III, a junior political science major, said that Wilson was put to the test when Byron Hunter, a graduating senior from Dallas, asked Wilson the year Dillard was founded. Roe, from Stockton, Calif., said Wilson paused while students waited for the response, and then delivered Dillard�s history with confidence and accuracy to an approving student audience.

�He�s a good public speaker,� Roe said. �But you can�t judge him until he gets in office.�

Roe and other students agreed that Wilson presented himself as approachable. Wilson indicated that he and his wife lived in a dormitory with students while at MIT, Green said.

Wilson's wife, Dr. Carol Espy-Wilson, is a Stanford University graduate and received her Ph.D in electrical engineering from MIT. She is an associate professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Maryland.

Maureen Larkins, Dillard�s director of communications, said the successful candidate will be named after Dillard�s board meets Oct. 1 and 2.

Larkins did not confirm or deny the identity of the first candidate and said the university administration would adhere to the procedures of the search company, Boston-based Isaacson, Miller, which calls for closed meetings.

Not everyone agrees with the method.

�Students should not have been brought in at the last minute,� said Green.

�A search group does not necessarily understand students� problems and should not have waited until the last two candidates were chosen to get the students involved,� he said.

Shearon Roberts and Shawnee McFarland are students at Dillard University. Roberts is editor in chief of The Courtbouillon and McFarland is the online/opinions editor.

Posted Sept. 27, 2004