June 10, 2022
Incoming Dillard President Wants to Bring the HBCU ‘To the Table’
By far, one of the most prolific college presidents on social media is Walter Kimbrough, leader of the historically Black Dillard University, a private institution with an oak tree-studded campus in the heart of New Orleans.
Kimbrough is the self-dubbed “Hip Hop Prez” online, where he routinely comments on the political issues du jour and those affecting higher education. But his reach extends beyond Twitter and Instagram.
In his decade at Dillard, Kimbrough is credited with growing the HBCU’s endowment by 115%, to about $105 million, and significantly bolstering philanthropy. One of his most recognizable achievements is helping ensure the federal government forgave a roughly $160 million loan made in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
He’s stepping down, and Dillard’s trustee board believes it’s found the “dynamic, charismatic and visionary leader” to fill his big shoes: Rochelle Ford, currently dean of the School of Communications at Elon University, a private nonprofit institution in North Carolina.
Kimbrough is the self-dubbed “Hip Hop Prez” online, where he routinely comments on the political issues du jour and those affecting higher education. But his reach extends beyond Twitter and Instagram.
In his decade at Dillard, Kimbrough is credited with growing the HBCU’s endowment by 115%, to about $105 million, and significantly bolstering philanthropy. One of his most recognizable achievements is helping ensure the federal government forgave a roughly $160 million loan made in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
He’s stepping down, and Dillard’s trustee board believes it’s found the “dynamic, charismatic and visionary leader” to fill his big shoes: Rochelle Ford, currently dean of the School of Communications at Elon University, a private nonprofit institution in North Carolina.