A lengthy meeting held by Southern University Supervisors upheld the controversial firing of a popular executive this afternoon, as a two-vote margin formally dismissed Brandon Dumas as the university’s vice-chancellor of student affairs and enrollment management.
The meeting, which went well into the evening after a 9:00 a.m. start, will allow Dr. Dumas to stay in his position until Aug. 10, but nearly resulted in a 60-day review of charges against him, following weeks of controversy involving two sex tapes, his resignation from a civic board, and growing discontent with his division’s performance and customer service.
According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, Dr. Dumas came into the meeting ready to discuss his fate in public session, but reversed his decision after lawyers advised that students and other staff members’ privacy might be violated as a result. From the Advocate:
“The real problem is we wouldn’t even be here discussing this if not for this video surfacing,” said Southern University Professor Albert Samuels.
Samuels said the board had cause to fire Dumas even aside from the “salacious allegations.”
“Let’s just look at performance. This board gave Vice Chancellor Dumas an awesome responsibility,” Samuels said. “Every year the numbers have gone the wrong direction. Enrollment is down, retention is down, complaints are up.”
Dr. Dumas did not offer public comment after the board’s decision but did allude to brighter days ahead in a message posted to Facebook.
You must be logged in to post a comment.