In an abrupt reversal, Morris Brown College reinstated its former president Tuesday, after dismissing him without explanation.
Kevin. E. James, who had served as Morris Brown’s chief administrator since 2019, was fired by college officials on Jan. 12 — a move that James called “deeply concerning” on a social media post.
On Tuesday, however, the trustees at the historically Black college in Atlanta backtracked.
“After careful review, the Board determined that Dr. James’ separation from the College did not fully comply with the procedural and contractual requirements outlined in his employment agreement,” the college’s board of trustees wrote in a statement. “The Board recognizes its responsibility to adhere to established governance standards and to correct actions that fall short of those obligations.”
When he was fired last week, James wrote on Facebook on Jan. 12 that he was terminated by the board without “specific cause or substantive explanation.”
“The timing of this decision is particularly troubling, as the institution is approaching its accreditation reaffirmation review in a few weeks,” he wrote.
In Tuesday’s announcement, the board said the reinstatement of James was a mutual agreement that took place just four days after his termination.
In 2019, James stepped into the role in the midst of uncertainty about the Atlanta college’s future. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked Morris Brown’s accreditation in 2002 after a former president, Dolores Cross, and the college’s former financial aid director, Parvesh Singh, inflated enrollment data to steal federal funds to cover the college’s debt. Cross and Singh later pleaded guilty to embezzling federal funds.
Under James’ leadership, the college in 2022 regained its accreditation from the Virginia-based Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools.
Now, James is re-posting the announcement with the caption “The Hard Reset Part II,” on his social media accounts. The slogan, “The Hard Reset” has been used since 2022 as a rebranding campaign for the college since regaining its accreditation.
A Morris Brown spokesperson referred all questions concerning James’ termination to Monday’s statement. James did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
In his Facebook post, James said that during his tenure, he helped make Morris Brown the first HBCU to regain accreditation after 20 years. He said he also helped increase enrollment — from 20 students in 2017 to more than 540 students now; a university official told Capital B there are currently 472 enrolled students.
Before the college lost its accreditation, the peak enrollment was about 2,700 students, James told The Edu Ledger in 2022.
James was the interim president before being promoted to the full-time role in 2020. Before arriving at Morris Brown, he was the interim CEO for 100 Black Men of America.
“Having no affiliation with Morris Brown and having no affiliation with the AME Church, I knew that I was going to have to earn everyone’s trust,” James told Capital B Atlanta in a 2023 interview. “I said in one of my very first meetings with the alums that I was gonna be the most transparent president that they had ever had.”
During James’ tenure, the college was awarded $2.9 million in federal funds to aid in curriculum and building refurbishment in 2023.
The college announced James’ departure on Jan. 16 and said that board trustee Nzinga Shaw served as interim president briefly. Shaw has worked in human resources and as a diversity and inclusion officer for several corporations, such as Starbucks and the Atlanta Hawks, according to her LinkedIn profile.
As of Tuesday, Jan. 20, James is listed as the president on the college’s website with no mention of the previous termination.
Morris Brown becomes the latest HBCU to part ways suddenly with its chief administrator; Jackson State University and Howard University have changed presidents in the past year.
Moving Away from Scandal, Morris Brown Continued to Struggle
Morris Brown was once a part of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, a nonprofit often referred to as the AUC.
Formed in 1929, the AUC was the largest cluster of historically Black colleges located in Southwest Atlanta.
After Morris Brown lost its accreditation in 2002, it also ended its AUC membership, although some people still consider the college a part of the AUC due to its location.
The college also lost its membership and funding with the United Negro College Fund, an organization that supports HBCUs, predominantely Black institutions, and other minority serving institutions.
Like Morris Brown, other Black colleges such as Knoxville College in Tennessee, and Barber-Scotia College in North Carolina lost their accreditation but remained open.
Morris Brown’s struggles continued into the 2010s, leading Morris Brown to file for bankruptcy in 2012 to avoid a foreclosure of its property, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
As a part of the bankruptcy, in 2014 the college sold 26 acres of land and buildings, including its football stadium. Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that at one point, the college was $35 million in debt “with no steady cash flow.”
Without accreditation, the school continued to operate. This is technically legal. But for colleges struggling financially, losing accreditation can cause more strain.
Federal aid, such as grants, scholarships and loans distributed by the Department of Education can be used only at accredited institutions.
For Morris Brown, the road back to accreditation was led by current students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Developing a coherent plan, and getting buy-in — and marketing help — from past scholars was crucial to steering the 141-year-old HBCU back on track, Capital B Atlanta reported in 2023.
As the institution continued to struggle financially, James called for alumni volunteers, resulting in more than 150 alumni applying to become professors. By 2022, the college achieved accreditation, but it will have to appear before an accreditation commission again in 2027.
DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox is an alumna of Morris Brown. Maddox told Capital B Atlanta in 2023 that she and other alumni found it encouraging that James and his team had no ties to the college but still presented a plan of transparency.
“They believed in Morris Brown, and they did not want to see Morris Brown die out,” Maddox said.
This story has been updated.
