It was a quiet week among presidents’ comings and goings. A first-time female leader is beginning her career and one long-time leader is in his twilight. Plus, one president has been placed on administrative leave in the wake of an administrator’s suicide.
Hired
Lynne Coy-Ogan – Husson University (Maine)
The board of trustees at Husson University has selected Lynne Coy-Ogan as its next president, marking the first female to lead the institution in its 125-year history. She will be stepping in for Robert Clark, who had led the university for 13 years, the longest tenure across Main’s four-year colleges and universities.
Coy-Ogan is quite familiar with Husson already. Joining in 2005, she had previously served as the dean of Husson’s School of Education and is currently the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, a position she’s held for the past 15 years.
With a blueprint that Clark helped set, Coy-Ogan’s main objective is erasing college enrollment declines, Bangor Daily News reports. Her strategic plan mainly focuses on expanding Husson’s current academic offerings to attract new students. The university will soon launch five online degree programs; bachelor’s degrees in applied health sciences, nutrition and health, and health and fitness; and master’s degrees in applied psychology and applied animal behavior and welfare.
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Retired
Bob Mong – University of North Texas at Dallas
After a nine-year run, Bob Mong will be calling it a job well-done at the University of North Texas at Dallas in July 2024. His accomplishments have been multi-fold, from prioritizing socioeconomic mobility and STEM training and improving school and community infrastructure. The number of degrees awarded has more than doubled, The Dallas Morning News reports. Mong just so happened to be the editor-in-chief of that exact publication before becoming the president at UNT Dallas.
Mong oversaw the establishment of a new $100 million STEM complex now under construction to increase its medical program offerings to students and he helped facilitate the creation of a new regional police training academy, which will be formally announced next month. The university’s college of law officially gained accreditation under Mong’s tenure as well. Additionally, UNT Dallas launched the Center for Socioeconomic Mobility in 2021.
“Since my first day, the university’s mission to empower upward economic mobility and be a symbol of hope for communities we serve has inspired me,” Mong said in a press release.
In the hot seat
John Moseley – Lincoln University (Mo.)
President John Moseley is on paid administrative leave as Lincoln University’s governing body (known as the “Board of Curators”) investigates the suicide of an administrator.
Student Affairs Vice President Antoinette Candia-Bailey took her life on Jan. 8, shortly after sending an email that expressed concerns over Mosely’s leadership of the HBCU in Missouri, The U.S. Sun reports. Initially directed toward the president, the Board of Curators, and faculty, the letter soon went public, prompting an outcry from students, alumni, and the broader community.
Driven by Moseley’s claim that she was “intentionally harassed and bullied,” students soon organized protests, sporting #JUSTICE4BONNIE T-shirts, AP News reports. X, formerly Twitter, is also flooded with posts that question why Mosely, a white man, is qualified to lead an HBCU.
“As a Board, we are committed to making certain the mental health of Lincoln University employees is a priority and that every employee is always treated with dignity and respect,” Board of Curators President Victor Pasley said in a university statement.
