Right: Outgoing MCCC President Dr. Jianping Wang
Out-going Mercer President Dr. Jianping Wang is retiring in June following a breakdown in her contract negotiation allegedly related to disagreements with Board of Trustees Chairman Mark Matzen.
The depth of animosity was revealed in a Trentonian article that cited a letter Dr. Wang sent to the Board members on October 21, 2021, listing numerous complaints regarding her treatment by Matzen.
The Trentonian article came out on March 17, the same day a Board meeting was held to address both an unexpected 5% tuition hike and the payment of $200,000 for an internal investigation of Chair Matzen. Matzen announced at the outset of the meeting that both matters would be taken up at a later date.
The clash between Wang and Matzen appears to center around allegations of racism by both parties and includes other financial factors.
In broad terms, the Board is responsible for the college’s fiscal stability, approving policies and policy changes, overseeing the President and administration, and serving as the liaison between the college and the community. The President answers to the Board, carrying out their goals and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the college.
Dr. Wang was widely supported by the Board for much of her tenure, but her presidency has been controversial with the faculty making a vote of no confidence in her in 2019, providing the board with a lengthy list of complaints and citing racial bias among them.
After rapid turnover in the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs, Black VPAA Dr. J. Brandon Shaw alleged that he was fired by Dr. Wang based on racial discrimination.
Faculty also alleged Dr. Wang had made racist remarks. According to the list of faculty grievances, Dr. Wang “Conflated students’ low economic status with their race in a public meeting.”
Communication Professor Alvyn Haywood, who is also the President of the Faculty Association, told the Board in an open meeting at the time, “Our President has turned herself into a permanent liability for the college—a liability that will hang like a millstone around the neck of the Board and the college until the day the president resigns or is fired.”
Now, he says, “We did not use [the vote of no confidence] to tear her down. We wanted to see if there would be a change.”
Chairman Matzen stood by Dr. Wang after the vote of no confidence, saying, “We have, as a board, confidence in the president. She has done some amazing things, moved us in a strong direction, financially and academically, both on the budget side and on the Foundation side.”
Board member David Fried says that Matzen’s view was shared by the rest of the Board at the time.
However, an external firm was hired to investigate the allegations in the list of faculty grievances against Dr. Wang. In addition, Matzen conducted his own independent internal evaluation, which Dr. Wang alleged was discriminatory.
One question in the evaluation asked what animal Dr. Wang, a Chinese American, reminded them of, with answer options including tiger, lion, and dragon, Asian stereotypes.
Mayor Fried says, “Our Chair used the unfortunate language of asking people to refer to her as an animal.”
Dr. Wang says now, “Throughout my career, I have been subtly or directly discriminated [against],” adding, “I always wondered if I were a white male would I be treated like that? Would somebody compare a white male to a dragon?”
The ongoing investigation into the allegations of misconduct headed by external firm Lead Good was launched in December 2021 and resulting in the $200,000 bill.
Matzen said of the money, “It’s important to take these [allegations] seriously, and it’s the reason we have a policy to do that. I think it’s difficult to put a dollar amount on that. I also know we use that firm for other investigations, so I don’t know what the breakdown of that 200,000 is.”
The Trentonian article quoted an anonymous Board member who called for Matzen to step down, and Mayor Fried says he agrees that it is time for new leadership.
“I think that the money should have been spent on students. Before I would allow $200,000 to be spent on me as a volunteer, I would resign,” Fried says.
The calls for Matzen’s resignation come against the backdrop of rumors regarding a faculty vote of no confidence against Matzen, as confirmed by multiple anonymous faculty members.
In response, Matzen says, “I’ve not considered [stepping down]. Staff and faculty, anyone in the college, can talk however they want. Obviously, they did a vote of no confidence against the president.”
As the animosity between Wang and Matzen continues, Professor Haywood says morale has never been lower in his 30 years at the college.
“The impact that it’s having on the college, faculty, staff? It’s not good. We’re one. The whole notion of shared governance is shared responsibility,” he says, but continues, “Now, this stuff is in the public, and you got my student folk in a situation where they’re going, ‘What’s going on?’ Why should they have to be engaged in all that stuff?”
Student Government Association President Christian Perez says the ongoing fight between Dr. Wang and Matzen is unfortunate.
“I think it’s demoralizing, disappointing, and disreputable for the college to be going through this, and for students to be looking at this from the outside,” Perez said.
The disagreement comes against the backdrop of negotiations to approve Dr. Wang’s successor. The Board has yet to officially vote on the appointment, but quickly organized a closed session on April 6 to discuss “personnel matters.”
Neither Mayor Fried nor Board member Anthony Inverso attended. Inverno tendered his resignation on March 18 citing lack of communication within the Board according to his resignation letter.
“My advice to the next president,” Dr. Wang says, “you are not going to be very popular all the time, even most of the time, but you need to make sure you do things for the good of the people you serve.”
