Statement by The Rev. M. William Howard Jr., Chair, Rutgers Board of Governors

The president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, serves at the pleasure of the university’s Board of Governors. It is only the Board that has the authority to appoint or terminate the university’s President. My colleagues and I continue to support Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick.

Since his return to Rutgers in 2002, President McCormick has worked tirelessly and effectively on behalf of this university. The university’s accomplishments under his leadership include:

• An overhaul of undergraduate education, which is providing new learning and research opportunities for thousands of Rutgers students 

• Record levels of academic fundraising, including a recent $13 million donation to support business and professional education

• Record levels of applications from prospective students

• The largest first-year class in three decades    

• Rising SAT scores among students who enroll at Rutgers

• Record levels of funding for academic research 

• Reaccreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which was overwhelmingly positive in its assessment of the university

• A renewed commitment to diversity at all levels of the university. Rutgers was recently ranked by DiversityInc magazine as one of the nation’s Top Five universities for commitment to diversity. 

• Launch of the Rutgers Future Scholars program, which is providing opportunities for hundreds of minority and low-income students 

• Initiatives to improve energy efficiency that ultimately will save the university millions of dollars each year.

This is an outstanding record by any measure and we expect President McCormick to lead Rutgers in additional significant strides such as these in the years to come.