Stability, Advances Mark Howard President's Legacy

By Valerie Strauss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 10, 2008

Shortly after arriving at Howard University as a freshman in the early 1960s, H. Patrick Swygert walked into an auditorium where Malcolm X, spokesman for the Nation of Islam, and civil rights leader Bayard Rustin were debating black integration. The future Howard president became overwhelmed by the exposure to such vigorous black intellectual life and an ethos of leadership and service to the community.

Today, he looks back on his own legacy of leadership and service as he delivers the last commencement speech in his 13-year tenure as president of one of the nation's most prestigious historically black universities, even as his newly named successor, Sidney A. Ribeau, president of Bowling Green State University, is mapping a new route for Howard.

Exactly where Swygert is leaving Howard is a matter of discussion on campus. He exits after a period of strained relations with the Faculty Senate, which recently sent a letter to the Board of Trustees that declared the university was in crisis and called for new leadership.

Others praise Swygert for setting new sights for Howard.

"I think he moved us to the big leagues," said James Johnson, dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Science. "He set a higher level of expectation of what a university should do, and what faculty and students should do. He pushed students to pursue Rhodes scholarships and Marshall scholarships, and excel. . . . He got us looking at what we can do as a top-tier university."

Swygert, who took over the leadership of Howard in 1995, is credited by many with bringing stability to a campus that had seen five presidents in seven years, declining enrollment and layoffs, a state of affairs all the more startling because of Howard's one of the nation's oldest black universities.

As a measure of his tenure, Swygert also can point to:

· A capital campaign of more than $250 million, the largest in the history of historically black colleges and universities.

· The establishment of two new libraries.

· The overhaul of technology on campus, making it wireless, and creating a 200-station laboratory within the technology department that is open 24 hours.

· An endowment that jumped to $530 million today from $140 million in 1995.

As Swygert sees it, the numbers do not fully describe his legacy.

"I would like that it be seen first of all as my commitment to the core values of the university, next to the students of the university and then to our bright and engaged faculty," he said in an e-mail.

There is a sense among some students and faculty members of what might have been under Swygert, who grew up one of 14 children and worked his way through school as a baker and a waiter. Some considered him aloof and criticized his inability to build consensus among faculty.

"I don't think the students have built the kind of relationship we would have liked to have with him," said Marcus Ware, a member of the presidential search committee. "It's not to say that he wasn't student friendly, but he was just very busy trying to run the university."

At Bowling Green, Ribeau is known for showing up at student events and routinely inviting students and faculty into his home. He visited Howard this week, meeting with students, faculty and administrators, and impressed many with his openness and enthusiasm.

"I liked the way he answered questions," said Shivonne Foster, 21, who will be a senior in the fall. "A lot of things he spoke to was in a 'we' fashion. 'We' did this at Bowling Green, and 'we' want to do this at Howard. I feel he will be someone who makes a point to be accessible, and that's what the students want."

Ribeau has a doctorate in interpersonal communication. Swygert has a law degree, but no PhD, and some on the search committee had wanted a president with more of an academic background similar to leaders of top-tier research universities.

Faculty and administrators say he will need both his communication skills and educational background to meet the challenges Howard will face in the 21st century. Science labs and other buildings are in desperate need of repair, they said. Communication between the administration and constituencies of the university need improvement. And the university needs to better focus its programs and faculty "instead of letting everybody pursue what they want," Johnson said.

Howard also has to work harder to attract top students, some administrators said. Beginning in the 1970s, predominantly white schools and other black colleges started to recruit students who were traditionally attracted to Howard. Enrollment peaked at 12,890 students in fall 1983; enrollment was 10,586 last fall.

Ribeau said in an interview that he plans to bring his open style to Howard and may want to transport some of his key initiatives from Bowling Green, after a university-wide discussion. Faculty and administrators said that what worked at Bowling Green may not automatically transfer to Howard but they welcomed Ribeau's ideas.

Kurt L. Schmoke, dean of the Howard law school, said: "I want to see the university prosper, not just the law school, but the whole university, by having a really energetic and experienced leadership, and that's what they've got."