Roughly two weeks ago, the students of Cuttington University, supported by a majority of faculty members, staged a protest against the school’s now side-lined president, Herman B. Browne. The president is accused of demonstrating ineffective leadership and management.

In response, the Board of Trustees, headed by the bishop of the Episcopal Church of Liberia, Rt. Rev. Dr. Jonathan B. B. Hart, appointed Father James M. Tamba to serve as the acting president of the university until a full investigation is completed.

Although it is not clear whether Browne will be eventually forced to step down from his post, many faculty members and students who played key roles during the campaign to rid the university of Browne fear that his resurfacing will trigger a witch hunt on his part.

As a Cuttington alumnus whose personal and professional growth was greatly impacted by the university and who keeps updated on the affairs of the university, I think I have the moral duty and responsibility to speak freely on these issues. I have openly expressed dissatisfaction with Brown’s leadership style, based on my personal experience. My visit to the campus a few weeks back gave me the opportunity to talk to some faculty members and students.

The recent protest at Cuttington has had a short-term impact on the educational and learning outcomes of the school. There is now a renewed, perhaps, momentous shift, in the passion to teach and the courage to learn. The change in atmosphere could change the way the university is being run going forward.

It is interesting to hear also that academic activities have already resumed, which had previously been disrupted since the protest broke out. Students are now going to classes; senior students will continue defending their theses; and the new leadership is convening new meetings to shift the course of the old system.

But how far this will go lies heavily on the final decision made by the Board of Trustees.

If there is a need for Browne to permanently step down, it should not just be about him, but it should also include his surrogates. According to many, Browne had previously changed administrative positions, bringing in new staff who he believes would dance to the sour tone of his music, irrespective of the people’s tastes and preferences.

Those who have comfortably worked with him in his short span of time at Cuttington are those who are part of his carefully arranged cartel; possible whistleblowers have been pushed away.

Such action has compelled few to resign voluntarily, and other faculty members are already planning to resign soon if the situation continues to deteriorate.

A notable example is the resignation of former human resources director, J. Kelvin Fallah, who in 2017 received the “100 Most Influential Global Human Resource Professionals” award while working diligently for Cuttington. Fallah has moved to Tubman University in Maryland following his resignation.

Therefore, those who Browne has made to believe in his leadership style, system, and strategy need not to be forgotten either. They might be part of the very alarming system he has helped to nurture.

The change in leadership at Cuttington must be married to a change in leadership style that is effective and need-addressing. The faculty desperately needs a leader that will support innovations and incentivize those who work diligently. Students are hungry for the kind of president who would solve the electricity crisis, improve conditions at the dormitories and the cafeteria, and remove the extra price on services that were once free.

When I was a student at Cuttington, the student’s cafeteria, which had traditionally been used to host student activities and programs, was always free for student organizations to use. Now, students are being required to pay for those services, stalling extracurricular innovation, and social and intellectual exchanges among peers.

Although many would argue that the decision of the Board of Trustees to appoint Tamba to take charge of the university pending investigation is unhealthy and sets a bad precedence, the bishop’s decision is timely, given the alarming nature of the latest protest in Cuttington’s history.

The deteriorating conditions currently experienced at Cuttington is due to the lack of adequate funding from the Government of Liberia. The university has always struggled in the past to get full support from the government to run its programs and services. The generation of electricity through private means has always constrained the university, constituting a significant portion of its recurrent expenditure.

Unlike many advanced economies that support universities to promote ground breaking research and develop the next generation of leaders, it is difficult for the government to respond to all the university’s funding needs given the constraints with our national budget and revenue envelope.

In such a challenging economy, the leadership at Cuttington needs to use new strategies and ideas to keep things on the right trajectory.

If there will be any meaningful change at Cuttington, it should bring Cuttington back to its longstanding echelon.  The acting leadership, or leaders to come, will have to stop depending too much on tuition to fund basic needs and services, since the resulting effect would be higher tuition increases, constraining struggling parents and guardians in such a challenging economy.

The new leadership needs to invest in other productive activities that could bring in dollars. The rich agricultural land at Cuttington, for instance, could spur this initiative. Encourage student exchange programs by partnering with great universities around the world and part of the cost to run such exchange programs could be jointly shared, and this will further attract additional support programs to the university.

The new leadership must listen to the students and faculty alike, hear their views, support their innovations, and nurture their courage. If there are any challenges that need collective redress, discuss this with the people you represent. Be empathetic, while refusing to compromise any issues that undermine the university’s growth and development.

The change needed at Cuttington will depend grossly on the kind of leadership style that will be put to test pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation, a consequence of the recent faculty-student protest.

The change in question should not just be the change in face, but also a change in structural systems and leadership styles that underpin the need for real and productive change at the university.

Featured photo by Jefferson Krua