Contrary to reports, Medgar Evers president says he’s not stepping down

Medgar Evers President Rudy Crew with Hilary Clinton at the college’s 2017 graduation ceremony. AP Photo/Richard Drew.

By Victoria Merlino

A day after reports that yet another CUNY president was leaving his post, the president of Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College issued a corrective statement, indicating that he has no plans to step down and open a ninth leadership vacancy in the CUNY system.

Rudy Crew, a former Schools Chancellor, said he would not resign from the school, despite a report by the Daily News. 

“Contrary to a published report, I am not stepping down as president of Medgar Evers College.  In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The College is well-positioned academically, graduating its largest class ever just last month,” said Crew in a statement provided to the Eagle by a spokesperson from the college. “I am committed to fulfilling my vision for the future of Medgar Evers College, and plan to continue to lead the college for years to come.”

Crew would have become the ninth president to leave his post at the university system since 2018. 

Four presidents left, or will soon leave, CUNY schools in Queens, as previously reported by the Eagle. 

Queens College lost its president, Félix Matos Rodríguez, after he assumed his new post as CUNY chancellor in May. York College President Marcia Keizs and LaGuardia Community College President Gail Mellow both announced earlier this year that they would be stepping down from their positions in August. 

Matos Rodríguez pulled the president of the Bronx’s Lehman College, José Luis Cruz, to become CUNY’s executive vice chancellor, leaving the college with Interim President Daniel Lemons, a CUNY veteran who has served in a host of administrative and professor roles.   

CUNY Graduate Center’s Interim President Joy Connolly announced in January that she would be leaving the university to become president of American Council of Learned Societies on July 1. 

James Muyskens, a former president of Queens College and a professor at the Graduate Center, was appointed Matos Rodríguez in May to be the next interim president.

Borough of Manhattan Community College currently has an interim president, Karrin Wilks, and President Mitchell Wallerstein, of Manhattan’s Baruch College, is set to exit his post to become a professor.