Concerned Oakwoodites Call for Immediate President Replacement
By Pamela Maize Harris | 24 October 2024 |
Last week Oakwood University’s (OU) board announced that President Leslie N. Pollard has accepted a new position as Assistant to the North American Division president Alex Bryant for Pastoral Continuing Education and Mission, beginning July 1, 2025. Concerned Oakwoodites, a lay group that has been pushing for changes at the University, followed that announcement by calling on Wednesday for immediate installation of an interim president. They will meet Monday for a virtual online meeting.
Concerned Oakwoodites is made up of over 2,000 alumni, parents, faculty, and others. The group has been upset in particular about lack of transparency concerning Oakwood’s serious financial condition, and decline in enrollment. In addition, says David Person, a graduate of Oakwood University, they’re also deeply worried about faculty losses, low morale, needed changes in board structure, and transparency about finances.
Person owns DavidPersonMedia, LLC, a firm that creates content for clients and with partners and also co-hosts two podcasts: Alabama Politics This Week, covering newsmakers and elected officials, and co-hosts with Oakwood University pastor Debleaire Snell the Adventist media ministry Breathe. He credits his opportunity to work at OU’s radio station for his career success, and remains a loyal supporter.
Ongoing concerns
About a year ago Concerned Oakwoodites held a press conference in Huntsville, calling for the immediate firing of President Leslie Pollard. Pollard wasn’t fired—but says Person, the issue goes beyond Pollard: “We have a system problem.”
Danny Chandler is an Oakwood math alumnus, philanthropist, supporter of Oakwood—and outspoken critic. Chandler is worried that OU lacks strong leadership. He also sees problems with the OU board, which he feels is simply too large at its current level of about 40 members.
Chandler believes the board needs more independent lay people. Approximately 60 percent of the board are denominational employees, including presidents of regional conferences, unions, and other ministers, which Chandler says creates a “good old boys” board that protects one another. Because so many of the board members are ex officio conference and union presidents, who must be ordained to the Adventist ministry, women are a distinct minority.
Chandler believes younger generations of Adventists and alums won’t tolerate the current situation, especially if asked to be large donors. He cites one potential donor and alum who would donate several millions of dollars “but not under this system.”
Chandler has frequently approached board chair Alex Bryant and other leaders, only for the conversation to end in frustration and stalling.
Financial challenges and faculty morale
Faculty have not had any raises or cost-of-living increases in salary since 2018, nor have they seen many faculty advancements to a higher rank.
Dr. Lisa James, former chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, has moved on to other entrepreneurial pursuits. She says many faculty and staff came to OU with the goal of retiring there, but have left instead. Several years ago under a “right-sizing” budget initiative, staff and employee numbers were reduced. The goal of attracting young, accomplished faculty has been tough, as many have come—and then left. James notes that faculty “can’t thrive when they don’t feel supported.” Internal processes are so difficult, she says, that it takes “a lot of effort to do the simplest things,” which becomes so exhausting and time consuming that it’s almost impossible to focus on growing programs and upgrading departmental offerings.
Others complain there is little money for building maintenance, and buildings are in “terrible shape.” Another faculty member says that “There is little accuracy in payroll statements, since all systems regarding faculty payroll are manual. It’s chaos every two weeks. The system is deeply broken, but the powers-that-be don’t want to admit that there’s a problem.” He feels that faculty staff and morale are at an all-time low.
One faculty member told AT that their comments and suggestions seem unwelcome. When the Faculty Senate initiated a survey, he said, the results ended up in the shredder.
A study shows faculty attrition at 50% since 2018, with systems and structures of power blamed for problems. Faculty Assembly meetings are attended, but aren’t engaging, according to one faculty member who asked to be unnamed; faculty spend the time grading or following social media during reports.
Faculty Voice
Current OU Faculty Senate Chair Dr. Benson Prigg notes that in 2023 a salary study was completed at OU, but there was no complete report on the results to the faculty. Prigg attends OU Board meetings as an observer without a vote.
Prigg hopes that the voice of faculty—surely one of OU’s most important constituents—will begin to be heard. “We don’t come for the salary,” he said. “We come to contribute to the mission of God.” Some, though, aren’t staying; Prigg himself took a 50% pay cut when he came to Oakwood as a professor. He says it will take a village of forward-thinking constituents to make progress. Prigg, who calls himself an “unofficial” spokesperson, insists that Oakwood needs to plan for a totally different future. “We all have to be creative; we can’t go back to the good ol’ days, nor can we stay in the present. To be competitive, we have to do things totally differently.”
AT will continue to pursue this story.
Pamela Maize Harris is retired from teaching journalism at Southern Adventist University. She is Adventist Today’s Editor for Investigative Reporting.
