President Gwendolyn E. Boyd is attempting to guide Alabama State University through turbulent times.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed ASU on a six-month warning period this past June, citing ASU for failing to comply with six standards. Moody’s recently downgraded the university’s bond rating.
Last week, Gov. Robert Bentley, the president of the university’s board of trustees by virtue of his office, called for board chairman Elton Dean and vice chairman Marvin Wiggins to resign by Thursday afternoon for allegedly violating conflict of interest. Dean resigned, but Wiggins did not. The governor removed him Friday and named Ralph D. Ruggs, executive director of the Tuscaloosa Housing Authority, to serve out Wiggins’ term.
This past Sunday, Donald V. Watkins, a Birmingham attorney and pro bono legal counsel for ASU, published a scathing open letter in the Montgomery Advertiser characterizing Boyd’s presidency as the “university’s greatest mistake.” Watkins, who was involved with ASU’s presidential search in the wake of Joseph Silver’s resignation in 2012 after questioning some financial practices at the university, apologized for nominating Dr. Boyd.
On Monday, an article by the Advertiser reported that Wiggins had raised the issue of Boyd receiving a $1,000 monthly car allowance, yet she does not own a car. In addition, the newspaper noted that campus police drive Boyd, and the police officer who does most of the driving had more than $12,000 in overtime between Feb. 1 and June 1.
Diverse was unsuccessful in attempts Monday to reach Boyd for comment.
Watkins accused Boyd of forming an “unholy alliance” with Bentley and alienating trustees and other ASU officials. “During the past six months, I have discovered that Dr. Boyd, though a wonderfully affable woman, simply lacks the administrative skills to be president of any university,” Watkins wrote.
