Jason Wingard, Temple University’s first Black president, is resigning after a tumultuous less-than-two-year tenure and a rise in North Philadelphia campus violence. Tuesday night, the university announced that the board of trustees had accepted Wingard’s resignation, effective Friday. The university lauded Wingard for his “significant contributions” to the university’s mission.
According to the announcement,
“the board and the administration will ensure the greatest degree of concentration on these severe issues given the pressing matters now facing the university, particularly campus safety.” “We recognize that in order to address these issues, a concerted and ongoing effort must be made.”
A “small group of top Temple executives,” according to officials, will be chosen to oversee the university while a new president is recruited. The release stated that “this group will have many years of expertise at Temple and dedicated to its cause.” “Each will have specific duties for the university’s fundamental operations and offer a solid basis for us as we look toward the hunt for our next president,”
51-year-old Wingard has served as the university’s administrator since July 2021. On campus, the news of his resignation spread rapidly. According to Maddie Blessing, a junior at Temple, “I believe that every university needs a president and leaders who are truly open-minded and who listen.” The issue of safety cannot be ignored.
The Temple Association of University Professionals was scheduled to vote to remove Wingard and two other officials from their positions next month due to members’ concerns about declining enrollment, financial difficulties, and labour disputes.
This week, Wingard testified in front of a group of state senators that the high homicide rate in Philadelphia had created an atmosphere of dread for all school personnel, including students, teachers, parents, and staff. A Temple University police officer was shot and killed near the campus in north Philadelphia last month.
Officer Christopher Fitzgerald, 31, was shot in a neighbourhood with a history of burglaries and carjackings while pursuing three suspects wearing masks and dark clothing. Two teens were detained nearby, and the following morning, authorities in nearby Bucks County detained a suspect aged 18 years old.
Jennifer Griffin, the university’s director of public safety, stated that Fitzgerald was the first Temple University police officer to perish in the line of duty. He joined the school’s police force in October 2021 and has five children.
Graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants recently went on a six-week strike, which the institution witnessed. Earlier this month, union members ratified a new contract after rejecting a previous agreement overwhelmingly and extending their boycott.
The social media organisation relayed these incidents to Keep Us Safe TU, which was believed to have played a crucial role in keeping students informed. Transparency is what the group desires moving forward.
According to Nate Weinberg of Keep Us Safe TU, “How Temple intends to position themselves for the future hinges on how the new president is able to recover that trust and transparency so severely harmed by President Wingard’s office.” In relation to the new administration, the Temple University Police Association (TUPA) also released the following statement:
“We are committed to working together to implement tried-and-true methods to promote safety on campus, and TUPA is excited to establish a working partnership with Temple University’s new leadership group. We’ll keep fighting for the rights of the neighborhood’s residents.”
In response to Wingard’s departure, Temple’s board of trustees chair, Mitchell Morgan, issued the following statement: “We are writing to inform you that the Temple University Board of Trustees has accepted President Jason Wingard’s resignation, which will take effect on March 31, 2023.
In the coming years, we are confident that the University will benefit from Dr. Wingard’s strategies and initiatives. We appreciate his leadership. Dr. Wingard’s responsibilities included devising and executing a strategy to improve the University’s value proposition, reputation, and external profile.
We recognise that a concerted and continuous effort must be made if we are to be successful in addressing these issues, and the Board and administration will devote the utmost attention to resolving these pressing issues, given the University’s current predicament, which includes campus safety.
We remain optimistic that the University will be able to surmount these obstacles with your assistance, despite the fact that these issues negatively affect all of the University’s constituencies. We recognise that solutions will be most effective, influential, and long-lasting when they reflect the perspectives of so many diverse groups who care profoundly about the future of Temple.
Each will have discrete responsibilities for the university’s core functions and provide us with a stable foundation as we search for our next president. A select group of senior Temple leaders will be designated by the Board to guide the university. This group will have extensive Temple experience and dedication to its mission.
Your participation and collaboration will be indispensable to our efforts to emerge from this new chapter for Temple as a stronger institution and more unified community than ever before. We value your interest in, commitment to, and loyalty to Temple University.” The Associated Press made possible this report.
