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Dillard Interviews Second Presidential Candidate

By Shearon Roberts
Black College Wire

Photo credit: National Science Foundation Donald E. Thompson has been at Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan.

Dillard University students, faculty and staff have evaluated a second finalist for university president, Donald E. Thompson of the National Science Foundation outside Washington, D.C., and immediately compared him with previous interviewee John S. Wilson, executive dean at George Washington University�s Virginia campus.

�Overall, I wouldn�t give either one a 5. I�d put them at even,� said Joshua Thomas, a junior business and music major from Chicago.

�To see the two face off would be wonderful. There should be a debate,� said Megan Williams, a sophomore who attended both sessions.

Although the selection process remained closed to the public and the news media, students disclosed that Thompson, deputy assistant director of education and human resources at the National Science Foundation, was the board of directors' second finalist and was interviewed Sept. 28 and 29.

According to the National Science Foundation Web site, the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, where Thompson works, "is responsible for the health and continued vitality of the Nation's science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and for providing leadership in the effort to improve education in these areas."

Faculty were singing Thompson�s praises after his session, some students said, even though he did not resonate with most students interviewed.

Some faculty members said Thompson�s contacts with the National Science Foundation might propel Dillard to national recognition.

According to a biography handed out to students during the sessions, Thompson served in numerous administrative and faculty capacities at Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan, of which he is an alumnus.

The fact that he managed a $937 million budget at the National Science Foundation sat well with Dillard�s desire to find a president to deal with the university�s financial woes, some faculty members said.

Students acknowledged Thompson�s credentials, but argued that he had little exposure to running a historically black college, nor was he familiar with its culture. They also said that most of the budget he managed was not through fundraising efforts.

�I wouldn�t just settle on him,� said Antoinette Powell, a senior, also from Chicago.

�He wouldn�t be my first pick, based on the fact that he doesn�t know a whole lot about Dillard and he really doesn�t have a lot of experience with an HBCU,� said Powell.

The board originally planned to name its choice Oct. 2, but is now saying the announcement might not come until later in the month.

Shearon Roberts, a student at Dillard University, is editor in chief of The Courtbouillon.

Posted Oct. 6, 2004