Spelman College President Beverly Tatum announced Wednesday that she plans to retire from the historically black, all-female institution next year.
Tatum’s retirement, announced in conjunction with the close of a record-setting $157.8 million, 10-year fundraising campaign, is effective June 30.
“I came with a certain vision of what I wanted to accomplish,” Tatum said. “I feel like those things have been accomplished, culminating in the success of our major fundraising campaign.”
Tatum has led the Atlanta institution for 12 years. During that time she launched the fundraising campaign to increase scholarship support for students, provide additional investment in faculty and academic programs, and complete capital improvement projects on campus. The funding generated by the campaign is the largest amount raised in the history of the institution and was supported by 12,000 — or 71 percent — of alumnae donors.
The closing of the fundraising campaign presented a natural time for transition, said Tatum, who said she felt ready to move on next year.
“Thirteen years is a long time to serve as a college president,” Tatum said. “I want to focus full-time on my next book.”
Tatum, who turns 60 this year, is a well-known author, a recognized expert on race relations and a leader in higher education. She said one of her first writing projects after stepping down will be a 20-year anniversary version of her 1997 book “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race,” due in 2017.
Tatum was one of four college presidents to receive the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award last year. Tatum was the first award recipient from a historically black college or university and the first in Georgia.
Before becoming Spelman’s president, Tatum taught and served as dean at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Tatum, her husband and two grown children plan on staying involved in Atlanta.
Tatum's retirement announcement comes three months after a similar announcement by Clark Atlanta University President Carlton Brown. Both presidents, whose colleges are members of the Atlanta University Center, are set to retire in June.
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