Three Women College or University Presidents Who Are Stepping Down From Their Posts

Laurie Nichols, president of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota, announced that she will step down from her post as soon as a successor can be found. She was named interim president in July 2019 and was named permanent president later that year. Before being named interim president, Dr. Nichols had served for three years as the first woman president of the University of Wyoming. From 2009 to 2016 she served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at South Dakota State University. Dr. Nichols is a graduate of South Dakota State University where she majored in home economics education. She holds a master’s degree in vocational and adult education from Colorado State University and a Ph.D. in family and consumer sciences education/family studies from Ohio State University.

Katherine Bergeron is stepping down as president of Connecticut College at the end of the academic year. The resignation comes after a controversy arose over a proposed fundraising event at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida, an organization that had been accused of racism and anti-Semitism. Dr. Bergeron became president of the college in 2014. Earlier, Dr. Bergeron was dean of the college at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Bergeron joined the Brown faculty in 2004 as a professor of music. Previously, she served on the music faculty for 11 years at the University of California at Berkeley.  Dr. Bergeron is a native of Old Lyme, Connecticut, and is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees in musicology at Cornell University.

Meghan Hughes, president of the Community College of Rhode Island, announced that she will resign from her position in August. Dr. Hughes became the fifth president and first woman president of the Community College of Rhode Island on February 1, 2016. She was awarded a three-extension of her contract in 2021 despite the fact that she received a vote of no confidence from the faculty union. CCRI is the largest community college in New England with four main campuses. The college serves more than 40,000 Rhode Islanders annually. Dr. Hughes graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and holds a doctorate from New York University.