Cade nixes offer to head Cheyney

Valarie Swain Cade, a longtime minority affairs administrator at the University, rejected an offer Monday to become Cheyney University's permanent president -- three days after indicating she would take the job. Cade, who has been on leave from the University since becoming Cheyney's acting president last September, is expected to return to the University as assistant provost and assistant to the president, according to officials at the University and Cheyney. Tennessee educator Douglas Covington, who was passed over in favor of Cade last week, was appointed president of Cheyney -- the oldest historically black college in the country -- on Tuesday. In a letter to James McCormick, chancellor of the State System of Higher Education, Cade, 39, cited concerns about the length of her proposed three-year contract and Cheyney's long-range efforts to reduce its debt in explaining her withdrawal. Cade's change of heart over the weekend came as a surprise to SSHE officials who believed they had found a new leader for Cheyney. Many officials attended a reception Friday evening, where Cade was introduced to as the president-designate. Cade, who was selected by the board of governors of SSHE Friday afternoon, could not be reached for comment. Tony Bullett, Cade's executive assistant at Cheyney, said Cade accepted the job Friday afternoon, but ultimately decided to decline the offer after reconsidering her decision over the weekend. Chief among Cade's concerns, Bullett said, was that a lingering budget deficit would hinder Cheyney's development and that SSHE was not prepared to help eliminate that deficit altogether. Cade said in her letter to McCormick that Cheyney had reduced its deficit from $6.8 million two years ago to $4.2 million this fiscal year. But Bullett said Cade still felt Cheyney would have "a cloud would be hanging over its head." Cade also had wanted a five-year contract to "send a message" that there would be "stability at the top," said Bullett, noting that several recent presidents of Cheyney have remained in office only a short time. "These are concerns she had raised throughout," he said. "The more she thought about what she needs to do at [Cheyney], she realized she was always going to be constrained by the deficit. It became more what was good for this university than what was good for Valarie Cade." Scott Shewell, a spokesperson for SSHE, said Tuesday that Cade will serve at Cheyney through August 1. Before taking a leave of absence from the University, Cade handled a variety of tasks for the administration, ranging from minority affairs, capital planning and space allocation. Linda Koons, executive assistant to Provost Michael Aiken, said she is "under the impression" that Cade will return to the University though she has not heard definitely. Koons said that Cade's duties have been covered jointly by Allen Green, director of the African American Resource Center, and Jean Morse, deputy associate dean of the College, since she became Cheyney's acting president.

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