Wilberforce University President Patricia Hardaway is stepping down from her post at the end of this year. Hardaway informed the university's Board of Trustees that she will will resign effectively on December 31.
Hardaway became the 19th President of Wilberforce and only the second woman to hold the job. She is also a Wilberforce alumna, who had worked at various positions at the university.
Hardaway was appointed after Floyd Flake resigned whose tenure had been controversial at the university. But her time as president has also had problems.
She sparred with the Wilberforce University Faculty Association, at a demonstration last spring the group said Hardaway should step down because of the lack of student retention, fund-raising issues, and no additions or improvements to the academic program.
Hardaway says she had worked to eliminate much of the university’s operating deficit, and had more than doubled fundraising goals.
Wilberforce's debt is now close to $24 million. Student enrollment has dipped below 600 from nearly 800 when Hardaway took office.