UPDATE: Good (informed) guess. Dillard University in New Orleans this morning announced that Dr. Walter Kimbrough, currently president of Philander Smith College, would be its new president. The historically black college had been searching since late spring.
UPDATE II: Here’s the Dillard release, which says Kimbrough is expected to start there July 1. Philander Smith, which has a statement on the jump, says Kimbrough will finish this school year in Little Rock, working through May 31. Twitter is full of comments by Dillard students commenting favorably on the choice.
What I wrote early this morning:
I saw a Twitter feed last night that said Dillard University in New Orleans would be announcing a new president this morning.
Why notice at all? Because Dr. Walter Kimbrough, president of Philander Smith College, has been on the radar of a number of college job searches because of the strong job he’s done at Little Rock’s historically black college. Kimbrough has been president at Philander since 2004. He’s been lauded in the prestigious Chronicle of Higher Education and won headlines for his social justice initiative, along with his “hip hop” lecture series.
Dillard would be a move up for Kimbrough, who’s only 44. It’s long been considered one of the country’s top historically black colleges and universities and recently won a $25 million National Institutes of Health grant to research disparities in health care.
PS — After the news, Dillard students began commenting on Twitter. They like Kimbrough’s Twitter handle, hiphopprez. Example:
what_tha_DUCK Summer Rayne
RT @_RoxxStar: The fact that DU’s new President’s twitter name is @HipHopPrez makes me like him instantly
ON THE JUMP: Philander Smith’s statement: