Former UM System interim president to fill same role at Lincoln University

Lincoln University Curators President Marvin Teer Jr., left, introduces former University of Missouri system interim president Mike Middleton Thursday, May 25, 2017 as the interim president of LU.
Lincoln University Curators President Marvin Teer Jr., left, introduces former University of Missouri system interim president Mike Middleton Thursday, May 25, 2017 as the interim president of LU.

Mike Middleton begins working next Thursday as Lincoln University's interim president.

He will succeed outgoing President Kevin Rome, who begins work July 1 as the new president of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

"Dr. Rome and I have already been talking," Middleton said at a Thursday morning news conference announcing his appointment to the LU position. "He's going to, as I understand it, stay around until June 15 - so we will be working together during that two-week period, to transition me in."

Middleton, 70, recently returned to retirement after serving 15 months as the University of Missouri system's interim president, overseeing operations of the four-campus MU system and its hospital in Columbia.

"But when (LU Curators President Marvin Teer) called, again it was something that I could not turn down," Middleton said.

Teer, of St. Louis, made the announcement during a Thursday morning news conference, attended by three other curators and a number of LU faculty, staff and students.

"This is an exciting day," Teer said.

He later told the News Tribune that Middleton brings objectivity to the job, "not being either a current member of the (LU) administration or someone retired but having a well-seasoned knowledge of the university system as a whole throughout the state of Missouri."

Middleton said his new job won't be easy.

"Support for higher education in this state has not been adequate for a number of years," he said. "I knew that when I was at the University of Missouri.

"I know what's happening here - the pinch is probably more harsh at Lincoln than it is at larger institutions."

He said Lincoln's leaders have to "really think about new ways to generate revenue, accomplish savings through new ways of doing things (and) more collaboration, more innovation. We've got to do smart things very quickly to continue to advance the very important mission that we have."

"The first thing he intends to do when taking over at Lincoln is talk to and listen to all the constituents of this great university," Middleton said, "faculty, students, staff, alumni, donors and, of course, the board. You guys know the history. You guys know what's been tried, what's failed, what's worked, what needs to be done.

"All I can do is listen and learn and try to bring some stability, some calm, some confidence to the organization while we look for a permanent president."

The state budget that lawmakers sent Gov. Eric Greitens earlier this month cuts $3.4 million from Lincoln's core $18 million budget.

On Monday, the Rome administration said it will ask LU's curators to approve a 2017-18 budget that cuts 48 employees at the board's June 8 meeting, which equals 32.5 staff jobs and 15.5 teaching positions, including those notified in December that their jobs were ending this month, because of changes in the history and music programs.

Middleton said Thursday: "If that is something that Dr. Rome has worked on and already presented to the board, it's highly unlikely that I would modify that.

"I do intend to look at it. If there's some obvious modification that would accomplish the purpose with less impact on the faculty, I would certainly approach modification."

When curators were faced with filling the vacancy created by Rome's move to Fisk University, Teer reported: "We talked to a lot of different folks and considered a number of different people who would be great for the institution.

"We (knew) that we needed to maintain strong, effective leadership as we look for the next (permanent) president of Lincoln University."

Teer said curators wanted an interim president "who could maintain, re-create, come and help guide us through these challenges - who definitely is someone who can help steady the ship. We have proof that (Middleton) can do just that - which he has shown in his most recent appointments."

Teer, a 1986 Lincoln graduate, also is one of Middleton's former MU Law School students, and praised Middleton for his role as a teacher and mentor.

LU Curator Herbert Hardwick, of Kansas City - who didn't attend Thursday's news conference - is another one of Middleton's former students.

Although Middleton studied at MU, he noted he has strong connections to the Jefferson City school.

"My two older brothers both attended Lincoln and graduated from Lincoln, back in the early '60s," he explained. "And that's probably why I did not come to Lincoln because I did not think I could follow in their footsteps here.

"So, I chose to go to MU instead."

Also, his wife has two brothers who graduated from LU in the 1970s.

Middleton served 17 years as deputy chancellor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, retiring in August 2015.

Teer noted the MU curators called Middleton out of retirement in November 2015, to serve as interim president after MU System President Tim Wolfe resigned following turmoil that included a student's hunger strike and the MU football team's threatening to boycott a game - all prompted by issues of race relations on and around the Columbia campus.

That background shouldn't impact his Lincoln job, Middleton said.

"I was not in a leadership position" when that happened, he noted.

Teer said Middleton will be paid the same as Rome is earning - $240,000 a year, plus benefits.

But that's almost half the $477,544 a year Middleton made as the MU interim president.

Middleton and his wife, Julie, have been married 46 years and have three children and seven grandchildren.

"When I first retired from the University of Missouri, it was my plan to spend time with them," Middleton noted. "When I finished (the interim MU president's work), I was eager, again, to get back to the kids - and I play a little golf, too."

Then Teer called, after the Lincoln curators voted May 18 to offer Middleton the interim job.

The offer wasn't made public until Middleton and Teer signed the contract Thursday morning.

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JEFFERSON CITY -- Mike Middleton will serve as Lincoln University's interim president effective June 1, the LU Board of Curators announced Thursday.

Middleton will serve in the role until a permanent president is named to replace current President Kevin Rome. Rome announced in March he will become president of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, starting July 1, ending his four-year tenure at Lincoln June 30.

This isn't Middleton's first time serving as an interim university president. The University of Missouri System Board of Curators named him to the interim president's post after former UM System President Tim Wolfe resigned in November 2015 amid student protests over his administration's handling of racial complaints. Middleton served in that role until curators named Mun Choi the UM System's president in November 2016.

"It is important to have at our helm someone who can help steady the waters in our current state," LU Board of Curators President Marvin Teer said in a news release. "We are going to take our time in finding the 20th President of Lincoln University, so we needed to be certain the university would be in good, capable hands during this transition period. Based on his entire career, we have found just what we need in Mike Middleton." 

Middleton became one of the first black graduates of the MU law school in 1971, later joining the university's law faculty in 1985, according to The Associated Press. He also worked as a trial attorney with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, as assistant deputy director of the Office of Civil Rights within what was then the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, as well as various roles with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and Department of Education, according to the LU news release.

Middleton served as MU's interim vice provost for minority affairs and faculty development and later as deputy chancellor until he retired in August 2015.

"Interim President Mike Middleton will bring the stability Lincoln University needs as we face the unique situation of searching for a president in the midst of grappling with budgetary and other concerns," Teer said. "Though he comes to us only temporarily, the Board is certain his time in this role will have a positive long-term effect on our historic institution."