Jackson State University names new acting president after placing Thomas Hudson on administrative leave

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Jackson State University has announced that Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony will be the temporary acting president of JSU at its meeting held Thursday in Jackson, effective immediately.

Weeks after a vote of no confidence by the Jackson State University Faculty Senate Executive Committee and the Faculty Senate, President Thomas K. Hudson was put on administrative leave Thursday night with pay, effective immediately.

This came after a specially called meeting by The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning on Thursday in which they discussed “a Jackson State University personnel matter.”

“We are grateful that Dr. Hayes-Anthony has agreed to serve as Acting President,” said Tom Duff, President of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. “As alumnus and long-time administrator and faculty member at the university, she understands the campus, its students, its challenges and opportunities.”

Dr. Hayes-Anthony has served as chair of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Jackson State University since 2015. She served as professor of Communications and chair of the Department of Communications at Belhaven University from 1998 until 2015.

Prior to her time at Belhaven, she served at JSU for 10 years, first as director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Mass Communications and later appointed head of the department. Under her leadership, the department received national accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

The vote of no confidence for President Hudson was affirmed by the Faculty Senate on January 26. Several other faculty members also received a vote of no confidence by the Senate.

In the resolution, the Senate noted “significant concerns for months regarding the administration taking reasonable steps to provide a healthy, safe, and secure environment for all members of the campus community.”

Hudson was named as the 12th president of Jackson State in November of 2020.

This after his predecessor, William Bynum, was among 17 others arrested in a prostitution sting.

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