wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Knoxville College president is fired

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8838 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05413
August 10, 2005

Knoxville College president fired

Trustees say Barbara Hatton managed by 'fear and intimidation'

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - The trustees of Presbyterian-related Knoxville College in
Tennessee have fired President Barbara R. Hatton, alleging that she has
managed the school "by creating fear and intimidation."

	The decision, effective immediately, was reached on Monday, Aug. 8,
during a special board meeting at a Knoxville airport hotel.

	"It was a very sad day for Knoxville College and a very sad day for
Dr. Hatton," said Beneva Bibbs, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s associate
for racial ethnic schools and colleges.

	Hatton's dismissal comes as the 130-year-old historically black
college faces serious financial problems and declining enrollment. Enrollment
peaked several years ago at nearly 1,000 students, but recently has fallen as
low as 130.

	Hatton was hired in 1997, shortly after the school lost its
accreditation. She promised to get the institution's financial problems under
control, but the troubles continued.

	"The board felt it was time to move in a new direction, to give the
college the best opportunity to move forward," board Chairman Ronald E.
Damper told the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

	Damper said that fund-raising and enrollment, as well as regaining
accreditation, are Knoxville College's primary focuses right now.
 
	He expressed confidence that the school will weather its current
problems. 

	Robert H. Harvey, a former Knoxville College dean and acting
president, will lead an interim management committee while a presidential
search is conducted. 

	Hatton and Damper could not be reached for comment.

	Knoxville College was hit with accusations of financial mismanagement
in May, when several faculty members filed a lawsuit seeking back pay. Some
said they hadn't been paid regularly since June 2004.

	In another lawsuit filed in May, more than 100 students claimed that
the college owed them money for jobs worked on campus in 2003. 

	Faculty members and students sent letters to the board of trustees
this spring, asking them to fire Hatton, but the board announced in May that
it was standing behind her.

	The trustees' attitude clearly had changed before Monday's meeting.

	A letter of termination listed nine grounds for Hatton's firing,
among them:

	"You have consistently and habitually ignored and failed to carry out
directives of the Board ... failed to provide the Board with financial
information/data needed to govern the college, after countless requests" ...
"displayed a brazen disrespect, disregard and insubordination when questioned
by the Board or requested to undertake directives" ... and "have operated the
college by creating fear and intimidation of employees."

	The letter said Hatton had "alienated every constituency of the
college, including students, faculty, staff and alumni, as evidenced by
formal votes of no confidence."

	The letter said Hatton would be paid through Aug. 8, and would
receive her final check "upon the completion of a full review and accounting
of the financial affairs of the College."

	Knoxville police escorted Hatton from the campus after she tried to
enter the school to clean out her office, according to news reports. 

	According to the termination letter, she was to have been escorted to
the office to retrieve her personal things, but she arrived alone.

	The dismissal reportedly has left faculty members who are party to
the lawsuit optimistic that the case may be resolved soon. A mediation
session between school officials and the faculty members was scheduled for
Wednesday, Aug. 10, according to Richard Duncan, the Knoxville attorney who
represents the faculty.

	"We're approaching the negotiations in good faith, and now that
Barbara Hatton is no longer president, we think that Knoxville College is
approaching them in good faith," Duncan told the Presbyterian News Service.
"We're hopeful that we'll be able to resolve these problems."

	The decision set off a celebration among students and others who
gathered at the school after learning that Hatton had been fired. The
school's alumni association announced on Aug. 9 that is has launched a $1
million fund-raising drive.

	Hatton's firing didn't please everyone. Four trustees, none of whom
attended the meeting, resigned. They had informed the other trustees by fax
that they planned to quit if Hatton was fired. 

	The college lost its accreditation in August 1997 because of shaky
finances. The revocation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
meant that students could no longer obtain federal financial aid.

	That same year, Hatton became president and made the school a "work
college," where students could offset expenses by taking jobs. The school
teamed with private businesses to provide jobs for students and revenue for
the college.

	The institution also receives money from the PC(USA)'s annual
Christmas Joy Offering, which supports the seven Presbyterian-related
racial-ethnic schools and colleges.

	Bibbs said the college's 2005 allocation from the offering was
$289,454, of which $100,000 was repaid to the church in $25,000 increments
for outstanding loans.	 

	Hatton served as the first female president of South Carolina State
University before she was fired by its trustees in 1995, according to the
Knoxville newspaper. She also has served as deputy director of the Ford
Foundation's Education and Culture Program, and worked as a
scholar-in-residence at the Southern Education Foundation.
 
	Hatton has a bachelor's degree from Howard University, a master's
from Atlanta University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. She has served
on the faculties of Howard, Atlanta, Stanford, Tuskegee University and the
University of the District of Columbia.

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