After nearly two years, Jackson State University President Marcus Thompson has resigned.
No reason was given.
The news came after the Institutions of Higher Learning Board, Mississippi’s governing body that oversees the state’s public universities, met Wednesday to discuss a “personnel matter” regarding an employee at Jackson State University.
The board met for two hours in a closed door executive meeting to discuss a matter “regarding the job performance of a person holding a specific position at Jackson State University and related potential litigation,” a spokesperson for IHL said. Board officials told reporters there was nothing to report at the end of the meeting. IHL later released a statement saying Thompson had resigned.
This is the second time in three weeks the board had met to discuss a personnel matter related to the historically Black university.
In April, the board met for a nearly two-hour executive meeting. The board released a statement that no “personnel action” has been taken regarding JSU president, Marcus Thompson.
IHL hired Thompson in late 2023 after his predecessor, Thomas Hudson, resigned after serving three years in that position. The board had placed Hudson on administrative leave, but to date has not shared with the public the nature of the personnel issue that motivated its decision. He ultimately resigned.
IHL conducted a national search, interviewing 79 applicants, but Thompson was the epitome of an internal hire, having worked at IHL since 2009. He had never before led a university.
The day the IHL board appointed Thompson president, Jackson-area attorney Lisa Ross, who is also a Jackson State alumnus, filed a lawsuit accusing the board of gender discrimination for overlooking her client, Debra Mays-Jackson, who had been senior administrator at the university. The lawsuit alleges that when IHL makes internal hires at its three historically Black universities, men tend to benefit.
It’s not the only way women are harmed by the system of internal hires, the lawsuit alleges Ross said that while Hudson was serving as interim president, he sent “unwanted and unwelcome” sexually explicit photographs to a female employee.
Thompson was permitted to investigate the photographs, but he allegedly closed the investigation without questioning the female employee.
IHL has not responded to those allegations in its repeated motions to dismiss the case.
Thompson’s resignation marks the third time in five years the JSU presidency has been vacated by board action or resignation. Hudson’s predecessor, William Bynum, appointed in 2017, was ousted following his arrest in 2020 on a charge of “procuring the services of prostitute, false statement of identity and possession of marijuana.”
The board has named Denise Jones Gregory, provost and vice president of academic affairs at JSU, as interim president.
Jackson Reporter Molly Minta contributed to this story.
