The average tenure among the six presidents to step down or retire in this list is three and a half years, a starkly shorter timeline than the 5.9-year average ACE reported in its annual president survey.
Among the batch of hires and exits, one leader suddenly passed away after her health took a turn only two hours prior. Elsewhere, before becoming president, at least two leaders have served higher education in an academic or administrative capacity for more than 25 years.
The last two weeks have seen the South Carolina university's leadership flip on its head. An incendiary closed-door meeting and a fiery letter from the president—which was later leaked—calling out BJU's "dysfunctional leadership" dragged the private evangelical university's community into the fray and has culminated in the chairman's resignation.
Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony's commitment to "integrity; also, transparency and accountability" will attempt to right the wrongs of their most recent president—and maybe even those that came before him.
