JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, June 6, 2023. Today the Coalition is satisfied but underwhelmed at the departure of Dr. Carmen J. Walters. The decision for the departure had been belated. The Walters’ administration had been vexed with many issues, from petitions, student protests, low faculty morale, and alumni dissatisfaction. In 2019, many alumni voiced their dissent of her candidacy due to her lack of liberal arts college experience, which proved to be prescient. The Board of Trustees seemingly disregarded their concerns. Three years later in 2022, students signed a petition of no confidence in the leadership of Dr. Walters and asked for her and her entire administration to be terminated. The Board of Trustees once again was derelict in their duties. As a result, there were more than 100 students who did not return for the Spring semester, of 2023, which was approximately one-fifth of the student population. That large number of students leaving in one semester was vexatious for Tougaloo College.
The Coalition was formed in 2023, in response to the perfunctory student response by the Board of Trustees to address the systemic problems occurring at Tougaloo College. The petition was a “Call to Action: Preserving the Rich History and Legacy of Tougaloo College!” that garnered more than 1,000 signatures within the first 72 hours. The petition grew to as many as 1577 and still counting! The Coalition delineated:
The precipitous decline in student enrollment,
The loss of valuable faculty and staff,
Vacant key positions, and
Questionable fiscal issues.
Unfortunately, Dr. Walters was only symptomatic of the larger structural problems occurring at Tougaloo College, which include, but are not limited to, lack of transparency, unethical practices, and lackadaisical accountability measures exhibited by the Board of Trustees. With previous Boards of Trustees, if there were any appearances of impropriety the members acted in the best interest of the college and not that of a single individual. Therefore, there was no need for public discourse.
Tougaloo College is a private college and airing grievances was frowned upon, but it was our clarion call that accentuated the need for change. Tougaloo College should have never been placed in this precarious dilemma. It would have been more prudent had the Board of Trustees properly investigated the various calls, texts, and emails to inform them of the dire situation as opposed to maligning the Coalition. Now is the time for restoring, rebuilding, and restructuring!
Tougaloo College is a private, coeducational, historically black four-year liberal arts, church-related institution. It sits on 500 acres of land on West County Line Road on the northern edge of Jackson, Mississippi.