Only two institutions have named a full-time successor since, leaving a considerable chunk of the Magnolia State's colleges and universities with vacant seats in executive leadership.
Higher education professionals, industry leaders and state legislators are beginning to recognize its revelatory potential to foster the next chapter of academic equity, workforce access and attractive program offerings.
Since fall 2017, enrollment at the state's four-year public institutions has declined by 12.4%, a dramatically worse dip than the nation's overall 3% decrease in that sector, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Among the cream of the crop of R1 universities, 75% of the Ivy Leagues are now female-led. Ten of the 20 schools to have appointed a female president are doing so for the first time in the school's history.
Boston University students exercised their right to free speech to shout "obscenities" at a commencement event that would have been "the precursor to a fistfight" back in President Robert A. Brown's youth, according to a statement.
