The Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) Board of Trustees announced Wednesday afternoon that Dr. Marcus Thompson has submitted his resignation as president of Jackson State University, less than a year and a half after the former IHL administrator was hired to lead the state’s largest HBCU.
“The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning has announced that Dr. Marcus Thompson has submitted his resignation as president of Jackson State University, effective immediately,” an email from IHL communications director John Sewell reads. “The Board of Trustees has named Dr. Denise Jones Gregory, provost and vice president of academic affairs, as interim president.”
Reporters gathered at the IHL building in Jackson earlier in the day before the board voted to move into executive session, forcing media members to leave the meeting space. But beforehand, Sewell said the board was moving into executive session “to discuss a personnel matter regarding the job performance of a person holding a specific position at JSU and related to potential litigation.”
The person in question was Thompson, signaled by the announcement from IHL hours after executive session ended. Thompson was hired as Jackson State’s president in November 2023 after previously serving as deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer at IHL.
No further details on potential litigation referenced by Sewell were disclosed in the announcement.
Jones Gregory, who will serve as president in the interim, is a graduate of Jackson State who has over 20 years of higher education experience. Before returning to her alma mater as provost and vice president of academic affairs, she served as associate provost of student success and diversity at Samford University.
