Demand for Resignation on behalf of Lane College Alumni

Dear Lane College Board of Trustees:

On behalf of the Alumni of Lane College, it is with regret that the members of The Lane Legacy Project, and various other concerned Alumni, demand the immediate resignation of Lane College President, Dr. Logan Hampton. We request that you commit an orderly transition of his position immediately to minimize further adverse impact to students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Dr. Logan Hampton’s actions as President of the College have placed the College in jeopardy of potentially losing its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) that requires member institutions to meet standards of accreditation to gain and maintain accreditation. SACS standard of accreditation Section 5.1 states that: “The institution has a chief executive officer whose primary responsibility is to the institution”. It is our determination that Dr. Logan Hampton has explicitly, and what would seem intentionally, failed to carry out his responsibilities as President, lacks sagaciousness, and an aptitude to serve in a leadership capacity with the ability to continue the legacy and traditions of our founder Bishop Isaac Lane.

Over the last three years, our numerous findings of financial mismanagement, fiduciary negligence, and serious accreditation concerns have placed the College in a very vulnerable position and has increased the liability on behalf of the Board of Trustees. Even after meeting with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees to discuss at length and in detail, our concerns have been consistently ignored, discounted, met with inaction, and purported justification. Below, we have detailed a solid case for and justification of the action to demand the resignation of Dr. Logan Hampton:

1) Under Dr. Hampton’s leadership, Lane College’s financial standing has steadily declined and there has been absolutely no transparency or justification; Dr. Hampton is unwilling to hire qualified individuals with experience and has not placed competent key administrators in positions to ensure the College’s financial resources and endowment are properly managed. The College consistently 1) ends each fiscal year in the red, 2) maxes out lines of credit to pay bills, 3) does not responsibly manage the budget, and 4) bad debt under the Hampton administration has quadrupled since the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year. This violates the SACS standard of accreditation Section 13.3 states: “The institution manages its financial resources in a responsible manner (Financial responsibility).”

2) Alumni also have grave concerns regarding Lane’s ability to attract, retain, and tenure qualified, credentialed faculty, but most importantly, qualified key academic and administrative professionals. Dr. Hampton has a disturbing record of placing obviously unqualified individuals in key roles at the College and this has had an adverse impact on Lane’s fiscal solvency and sustainability. It is also a clear violation of the SACS standard of accreditation Section 5.4, which states: “The institution employs and regularly evaluates administrative and academic officers with appropriate experience and qualifications to lead the institution. (Qualified administrative/academic officers). In order to ensure that an institution has effective leadership to accomplish its mission, the institution must employ academic and administrative officers with the credentials and expertise appropriate to the duties and responsibilities associated with their positions.”

3) The SACS Standard of Accreditation Section 13.8 states: “The institution takes reasonable steps to provide a healthy, safe, and secure environment for all members of the campus community (institutional environment)”. In the spring of 2019, Dr. Hampton, without prior approval or knowledge by the Board of Trustees, entered into a contract between the College and a private citizen to provide room and board to at least thirty migrant workers who were employed by HempTN, a hemp farm in Alamo, TN. These workers were housed in a dormitory on the campus where students were living and could dine in the cafeteria among enrolled students. No student, parent, or alumni were notified; this created a potential risk to students and a great liability to the college and irreparable damage to the College’s brand. Media also covered and exposed this further damaging the College’s brand.

Dr. Hampton has not provided safe and clean-living accommodations for students. Students live in deplorable conditions and some have been injured from maintenance neglect. Many dorms are infested with mold. There is limited supervision on the dorms, which has resulted in students being physically assaulted and becoming victims of theft. Dr. Hampton has shown yet again to be incapable of providing leadership that places the security and safety of the College community as a priority, proven by the following most recent actions:

1. In the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Dr. Hampton made an executive decision without Board approval and communicated to all students, faculty, and staff that, in essence, notified the college community that it will remain open with distance learning in place; as well, students were informed they were allowed to return to campus after spring break, many having traveled to Coronavirus “hot spot” locations. Despite Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order 17 and Jackson Mayor Scott Conger’s Executive Order 2020-02, Dr. Hampton allowed the return of students to the campus while faculty and staff worked remotely, with residential staff or security officers present on campus, and no student-monitoring; 2. Students could freely move about and congregate on the campus, unmonitored, unsupervised, and disregarding the 6ft distance rule in place across the country. Social distancing was not enforced at all and the campus was not secured to restrict the flow of visitors on campus.  3. It was suggested by the Tennessee Department of Education and the Center for Disease Control that large gatherings be cancelled, yet, as of March 30, 2020 Commencement will continue as scheduled.

As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in the state of TN, and the fact that the United States is now the epicenter of the global pandemic, Dr. Hampton’s unwillingness to close Lane College, nor consult with the Board of Trustees is nothing short of blatant disregard for the health and safety of our students. It should be noted on this date, although the College has ordered that all-students vacate the dormitories, Dr. Hampton had to be “made” to do so, which shows a continued lack of leadership.

Under the leadership of Dr. Hampton, the administration has been defined by mismanagement, mistrust, lack of transparency, and covert concealment, all which bring Lane College under unnecessary public scrutiny, and damages the reputation of our alma mater, and causes irreparable damage to our legacy and traditions.

It is abundantly clear Dr. Hampton does not possess the ability, sound judgment, wisdom, or commitment to lead Lane College with integrity and foresight. Most importantly, there are the potential threats of sanctions from accrediting agencies that undoubtedly can close Lane College! It is therefore a collective belief of alumni that the Administration’s window of opportunity to act in the best interests of students, faculty, staff, and alumni has closed and requires the immediate, drastic actions demanded in this communication. We respectfully request a response by April 15, 2020.

Respectfully,

Alumni & Members of the Lane Legacy Project