Jackson State faculty senate president on leave pending termination as faculty pledge support

Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today)

Dawn McLin, faculty senate president at Jackson State University in Mississippi, was placed on leave pending termination last week for allegedly abusing the power of the position, according to faculty who met last to discuss how to support her.

The accusation has sowed confusion and fear of retaliation among members of the historically Black university’s faculty senate. A Jackson State spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

McLin, a psychology professor whose family has deep roots at Jackson State, was elected faculty senate president in 2020. She has presided during a fraught relationship between faculty and administration that has seen the senate take multiple votes of no-confidence in members of the current and former administration, due in part to a “continuous pattern of failing to respect” shared governance and other professional norms.

Though faculty do not know the exact circumstances of McLin’s leave, many expressed alarm that what happened is highly unusual. A tenured professor, McLin is entitled to certain employment protections per university policies and the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees.

But McLin was apparently placed on leave without any written warning, members of the faculty senate executive committee shared during the meeting. She was also accused of harassment, malfeasance, and “contumacious conduct,” a term stemming from IHL policies that means insubordination.

This sort of treatment of faculty senate presidents rarely happens, at most once or twice every few years, according to the American Association of University Professors, a professional organization that advocates for tenure, shared governance and academic freedom.

“Such actions are generally taken in retaliation for criticisms of the administration the faculty members may have offered in the performance of their faculty leadership duties,” Anita Levy, a program officer for AAUP, wrote in an email.

McLin will receive a hearing in front of a faculty panel, but multiple faculty noted that the president, Marcus Thompson, could terminate her even if the panel recommends she be reinstated.

Hearing this, multiple faculty stated that if McLin could be placed on leave without a warning, any of them could be. Many said the university’s reason didn’t matter, because as a tenured professor McLin was owed more due process than it seemed she had received. One professor said he felt like tenure no longer existed at Jackson State and that faculty, no matter their age or length of service, were no longer protected.

Some faculty wanted more information — which led others to point out that the university would have nothing to say because this is a “personnel matter.”

Confusion, alarm

McLin did not comment for this story. She was not on the Zoom call to speak for herself because she had been “removed from the university altogether,” a member of the faculty senate executive committee told the meeting’s roughly 90 participants.

But the call, initially intended to be a general assembly to help faculty prepare for the fall semester, was briefly attended by representatives for Thompson.

The timing of Thompson’s two liaisons — Onetta Whitley, the general counsel, and Van Gillespie, Thompson’s chief of staff who used to be IHL’s general counsel — had disturbed some faculty, because one executive committee member stated the senate typically does not invite anyone from the president’s office to a meeting of the full senate unless faculty request it.

It was also unusual, multiple faculty stated, because no one from Thompson’s office had attended a faculty senate meeting in months. One executive committee member said that Thompson had been invited to attend a meeting in the spring but designated representatives to go instead, and they failed to show.

In the few minutes that Whitley spoke to faculty, she did not address McLin’s leave but implied that was the reason she and Gillespie had not received the Zoom link, stating “we know the faculty senate has recently undergone some changes and that may explain why we did not receive such an invitation.”

Whitley added she was hoping to have a more collegial relationship with the senate going forward.

“I wanted to say to the faculty senate how much we are looking forward to working with you all,” she said. “We hope to be in a position to foster, really, a better working relationship than in 2024, a more collaborative, collegial relationship than what I understand has existed between the administration and the faculty senate in the past.”

After Whitley left, some faculty expressed confusion at her remarks, because they thought the relationship was collegial. At the same time, one member of the executive committee mentioned that the faculty senate “has not been allowed” to send a letter to Thompson and instead has been required to reach out to interact with his liaisons instead.

“He doesn’t have any communication with us,” they said.

History at JSU

McLin has worked at Jackson State since 2001, according to LinkedIn. Her family has attended Jackson State since the 1920s, and her mother, a former chair in the College of Education, also served as faculty senate president .

Earlier this year, McLin was the principal investigator and project director behind a $1.5 million grant the university received to support an initiative to study how the health of underserved communities is affected by social problems like climate change and structural racism. It is unclear if her potential departure will jeopardize the grant.

“JSU is well-prepared to lead this research effort,” she had said in a press release. “Like many HBCUs, JSU has a history of addressing inequities and advocating for social justice. Our faculty, staff, and students have actively advocated for equal rights, racial justice, and systemic change at local and international levels.”

As faculty senate president, McLin stuck her neck out for faculty, so it was time for them to do the same, multiple people said on the call. They noted that McLin did not act unless the faculty senate wanted her to.

Still, many faculty on the call urged caution because they were concerned the administration would retaliate against anyone, especially the remaining members of the senate’s executive committee, who stands up for McLin, especially for the remaining members of the senate’s executive committee.

“We love JSU as much as they do,” said one faculty member whose name was not available on the Zoom. “The question we have to ask is this the best way to address the issue of faculty? Is this the best way to address the needs of students? Is this the best way to address the community?”

Jackson State “does not belong to one person or two persons,” they added. “It belongs to all of us.”

This story first appeared in Mississippi Today, a partner of the nonprofit States Newsroom, which includes the Florida Phoenix.