Oakwood Board Expected to Announce New President
by Pamela Maize Harris | 27 March 2025 |
Oakwood University’s Board of Trustees is expected to announce its choice for president at any minute.
According to sources familiar with the situation, three candidates have already interviewed and a vote has been taken by the Board, who has kept everything as secret as possible, skipping out on the usual public visits and meetings with campus faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
FaithSearch Partners, Inc. narrowed the candidates to these three:
- Dr. Gina Spivey Brown, alumna of Oakwood University and former faculty at Oakwood.
- Dr. Carlton Byrd, Oakwood University alumnus and former pastor of the Oakwood church.
- Dr. Heather Knight, Oakwood University alumna, former president of Pacific Union College, and former provost at Andrews University.
Dr. Gena Spivey-Brown was the finalist in the last search for Oakwood’s president, being the only candidate recommended to the Board of Trustees at that time. Behind closed doors, the board chose a completely different president, and Spivey-Brown headed to Howard University.
The new president will face unprecedented challenges, including results from a comprehensive, one-year-long Deloitte research report. It is believed that Oakwood University acreage sold in April, and another parcel now on the market, is one of the outcomes of that report. One point of concern is the question of whether this land is part of the original plantation farm, which Ellen White recommended to be purchased and “never, never sold.”
