Norfolk, Va. - After another year of uncertainty, students at Norfolk State University got a letter from the interim president. He acknowledges an accrediting agency has put the school on probation, but not to worry.
Tony Atwater, the university president fired last year, says this probation is plenty to worry about.
“A very, very serious issue. It cannot be understated and it cannot be downplayed,” says Atwater.
Atwater lost his job over amid incomplete financial audits and a struggling nursing program. He says Board of Visitors needed a scapegoat to explain years of problems, and it was him. But after his exit, the warning became probation, much more serious. That's proof to him he wasn't to blame.
What's worse, he said, students were told the probation was because of previous leaders.
“Uncalled for. And quite frankly is inappropriate and unprofessional,” says Atwater.
According to Atwater, since his departure enrollment has dropped by 700, leading to a multimillion dollar shortfall. That could trigger layoffs. Atwater says he's been out a year, so any worsening problems aren't on him. He wants Richmond lawmakers to hold the board of visitors accountable and install stable leadership. Maybe him.
“I would welcome the opportunity to finish the work I began. I doubt whether that is likely. But I am not a leader who likes to walk away from the table with a job unfinished,” says Atwater.
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Norfolk State Interim President ‘disappointed’ by academic probation decision
