The chickens have come home to roost (part 1)

I wasn't surprised when a friend sent me the November 28, 2023, article from the Philadelphia Inquirer's education section with the headline After a seeming comeback, Cheyney University lands back on probation.

- Junious Ricardo Stanton

I have been a critic of current President Aaron Walton, who was anointed president of Cheyney University by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) in 2017 after spending time on the PASSHE Board of Governors ascending to the position of Vice Chairman. Aaron Walton was sent to Cheyney by PASSHE and subsequently made permanent president because they circumvented Pennsylvania Act 188 1982 P.S. &20-2001-A et seq, which states a search must be conducted involving students, Alumni and the Council of Trustees to find a replacement for a PASSHE university president. But PASSHE requested and was granted a waiver by the Pennsylvania State Senate, exempting them from conducting a legitimate regional or national search.

No search was conducted in part because the Commonwealth was afraid their search might fail to attract the highly qualified candidates needed to turn the university around. I received a letter (and still have it in my possession) from Mr. Peter H. Garland, the Executive Vice Chancellor of PASSHE dated March 9, 2016, in response to my letter dated February 28, 2016 (which was part of a Heeding Cheyney' Call letter writing campaign). I was requesting a thorough presidential search to find the best-qualified candidate willing to accept the challenge of piloting the venerable institution through the unprecedented times higher education was facing, especially the major problems Cheyney was then experiencing. The new president would have to address myriad of challenges: declining enrollment, escalating debt, fiscal aid mismanagement, abysmal public perceptions/branding, federal government scrutiny, and ineffective governance.

In his response, Mr. Garland alluded to the possibility a search might not produce significant interest in the Cheyney presidency. He said, and I quote, "On behalf of the Chancellor, I have served as the liaison to a number of presidential searches in the system.