IHL Board of Trustees appoints new interim president for Jackson State

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) – Jackson State University’s temporary acting president is getting down to business.

Elayne Hayes-Anthony was named to the leadership role Thursday after the Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning voted to put Thomas K. Hudson on paid administrative leave as JSU president.

Hayes-Anthony said that she intends to focus on student success, academic excellence, and research at Mississippi’s largest historically Black university.

Hayes-Anthony has been chairwoman and professor in JSU’s Department of Journalism and Media Studies since 2015.

She said she will lead the university as long as she is needed.

The IHL Board has not commented publicly on why Hudson was put on leave, but they will discuss leadership at JSU at its March 23 meeting.

JSU’s enrollment for the fall semester was about 6,900. That is down from nearly 7,100 a year earlier.

Enrollment at most of Mississippi’s public universities decreased from 2021 to 2022.

Thomas Hudson has served as president at Jackson State since November 2020.

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