The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning board of trustees has selected a group of Jackson State University faculty and alumni to serve on a group to support  its search team for a new president. 

The five-member search advisory constituency, announced Thursday, is tasked with helping to vet candidates for the historically Black university’s next leader, according to the IHL board. 

The board also announced plans to begin recruiting candidates to be Jackson State’s next president in December. The top job at Jackson State has been vacant since May, after Marcus Thompson resigned without explanation less than two years into his tenure. Thompson was the third president to depart in five years. 

Denise Jones-Gregory, who was the provost and vice president of academic affairs, is serving as the interim president. 

The constituency members “were selected for their professional insight and long-time connections with Jackson State University,” John Sewell, director of communications for the IHL board, said in an email.

The search advisory constituency group members are: 

• Nicholas J. Hill, dean of the College of Business 
• Candice L. Jackson, secretary of the faculty senate and an associate professor in the Department of English, Foreign Languages and Speech Communications 
• Deidre L. Wheaton, associate dean of the College of Education and Human Development
• Retired Brigadier General Robert Crear, Jackson State Development Foundation advisory board member
• Patrease Edwards, national alumni association president

Some alumni still question if the IHL board will allow the group full agency to properly vet candidate applications and approve of candidate finalists. Jackson State alumni and supporters have questioned the IHL board’s opaque search process, advocating for more stakeholder input into selecting the next president.  

The creation of the constituency group is one way the board is acting on concerns from JSU alumni and supporters who want more input in the search process. Last month, the board voted unanimously to create the group.

IHL board policies allow for the creation of an advisory group of up to 15 members. It’s not clear why they selected only five. Sewell did not directly respond to a question from Mississippi Today about the rationale for the group size.

The IHL board has not used an advisory group to assist with Jackson State’s president searches since 2017. That search resulted in IHL hiring William Bynum, who was unpopular among alumni and constituents — but Bynum wasn’t on the list of finalists the constituency group recommended. 

The board ultimately rejected the group’s input and named Bynum president of the university. Bynum resigned in 2020 after he was arrested in a prostitution bust that ended his presidential term. 

In 2022, the IHL board revised its policies to provide for a search advisory constituency. 

The advisory group should have a meaningful stake in the selection of Jackson State’s next president, said Mark Dawson, chairman of Thee 1877 Project, an alumni-led group advocating for transparency in the selection process. The number of alumni selected for the advisory group is disappointing, he said, and the individuals the IHL board selected for the advisory group doesn’t represent a breadth of alumni voices.

“Members should have the full ability to reject and approve candidates. As constituents, we should also know who the potential finalists are for university president,” Dawson told Mississippi Today.  “Our group will continue to advocate for a fair, transparent search and the opportunity for all constituents and stakeholders voices to be heard and involved in the university’s president search.” 

Sen. Sollie Norwood, a Democrat from Jackson, said he would want more representation of students and community in the group, but ultimately, those chosen will have the best interest of the university at heart. 

“My hope is that after all this we will have a leader in place. We’re missing out on a lot of opportunities, and we all need to galvanize and work together to take Jackson State to a place where it should rightfully be,” Norwood said. 

Since August, the IHL board has gathered constituent feedback to shape the role before it starts to seek potential applicants. The job profile will provide an overview of Jackson State as well as information on issues and challenges stakeholders presented during campus listening sessions in October.