HCC board rejects online calls to oust president

The Howard Community College board of trustees is opposing calls to remove President Daria J. Willis in response to anonymous comments on online forums criticizing her, The Baltimore Banner reported.

“The Board of Trustees is aware of a website that has published alleged grievances against President Daria Willis,” the board wrote in an email to the campus community last week, the same day it held a closed-door meeting on personnel matters. “We denounce this and any other attempts to smear Dr. Willis, who, along with her leadership team, has successfully implemented the Board’s vision of supporting students and the surrounding communities.”

Administrators also described some posts on the forum as “racist, vitriolic and regrettable forms of online harassment.”

The forum included over 70 posts from commenters, many of whom The board members identify themselves as employees of Howard Community College. The site says it is a platform for those “who have been mistreated and silenced by the current administration at Howard Community College.” Most criticize his leadership style or point to issues such as low employee morale and high turnover. Some call Willis, the campus environment and the hiring process “racist.”

Jarrett Carter, the college’s vice president of external affairs, communications and advancement, said the forum “spread racist and sexist lies against our board of trustees and our president.”

Willis, who has been president since 2022, posted on X that she was “going nowhere.”

On Friday, the board also announced the departures of three board members, Chairman Sean Keller, former Vice Chairman M. Shafeeq Ahmed and former Chairman Christopher Marasco. Two of them will leave the board “effective immediately,” while Ahmed ended his term on the board in August. It is unclear whether the departures are related.