Gov. Shapiro and state officials dispute decision to place Cheyney on probation

Gov. Josh Shapiro and State Sen. Vincent Hughes are among public officials who have joined Cheyney University and the state’s higher education system in opposing a recent move by an accrediting agency to place the school on probation.

In letters to the Middles States Commission on Higher Education this week and at a noon news conference Friday on the historically Black university’s campus, officials argued that Cheyney has made progress and does not deserve the designation. They criticized the commission for moving Cheyney directly to probation, rather than the warning phase, despite two site visits by its teams that offered only recommendations and “collegial advice” that Cheyney adopted.

“We’ve been at this too damn long,” Hughes, Democratic chair of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, said at the news conference, held on Cheyney’s Founder’s Day, celebrating its 187 years. “There’s always something hovering around to try to get this university. And I say to the HBCUs, and in fact, other universities all across the country, if you don’t stand with us now, it could come your way.”

They said the probation decision has hurt the school’s reputation and enrollment efforts and have asked for the commission to set up a meeting within 30 days with Cheyney officials and the U.S. Department of Education to address the issue.

» READ MORE: After a seeming comeback, Cheyney University lands back on probation

Hughes was among a dozen leaders who sent a letter to the commission this week, citing the concerns. Others included the chancellor and board chair of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), of which Cheyney is a part; the chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus; and members of Cheyney’s council of trustees.

“Probationary status has created immediate concern and distress among students, many of whom have expressed serious reservations about continuing their education at Cheyney,” they wrote.

The Middle States commission chief of staff declined comment “because communications between institutions and the Commission are confidential per policy.”

But she noted that the commission can place an institution on noncompliance probation without having previously issued a warning. Its regulations state: “A sequence of actions is not required (e.g., warning need not precede probation; the next action following warning may be show cause.)”

The commission in November placed the state university back on probation and said it “is in jeopardy” of losing accreditation for insufficient evidence that it is meeting several required standards. Those standards cover ethics and integrity; design and delivery of the student learning experience; and planning, resources and institutional improvement. It also fell short in requirements covering compliance with laws, regulations, and commission policies; financial planning; and budget processes and other areas, the commission said.

As is typical, the commission did not provide details on the specific issues it found at Cheyney, which straddles Delaware and Chester Counties.

Senior Kishore Owusu, 21, a biology major and premed student from Philadelphia, said he was shocked to learn about the probationary status, given the education he has received at the university and the school’s improvements in recent years.

“During my time at Cheyney, I’ve discovered the leader within myself, which has allowed me to stand on equal footing with my peers,” said Owusu, student government president and aspiring surgeon. “I’m a beneficiary of the tremendous progress Cheyney has made.”

Shapiro in a separate letter this week said he was frustrated by the commission’s action.

» READ MORE: Cheyney alum say turning over the HBCU to the National Park Service could bring it back to its storied days. The state system disagrees.

“I believe Middle States erred in its hasty decision to place Cheyney on probationary status without rationale and without warning,” he wrote. “... Historically Black colleges and universities, like Cheyney University, play a critical role in our system of higher education.”

The latest move by the commission came just four years after Cheyney had its accreditation reaffirmed and seemed to be making a comeback.

The commission, according to its regulations, places institutions on probation when “there is evidence that the noncompliance is sufficiently serious, extensive or substantial that it raises concern” about the quality of the student learning experience, the school’s capacity to improve within a short time, and the school’s capacity to sustain itself in the long term.

» READ MORE: Troubled Cheyney averts a crisis, keeps accreditation

Probation is the second level of action that the commission takes against universities when it has concerns about the schools’ ability to reach compliance. Warnings are the least serious action, while “show cause” — when schools must prove they should keep their accreditation or lose it — is the most serious.

Cheyney was on “show cause” in 2017 and battled back from the brink of losing accreditation. Without accreditation, the school would not have been eligible to receive federal and state financial aid, on which the vast majority of its students depend. In 2019, it had its accreditation reaffirmed.

Daniel Greenstein, system chancellor, noted that the commission is made up of member institutions, including the 10 PASSHE universities, and said it’s time to consider whether the accrediting body, whose “mind-numbingly bureaucratic processes can appear to be arbitrary and capricious,” is properly doing its job. He noted there are other accrediting agencies that colleges can join, but they also have benchmarks colleges must reach.

“Middle States’ actions raise serious questions about its relevance,” he said, asserting that it has been unwilling to recognize Cheyney’s reforms. “This is a conversation I’m prepared to have with university and college leaders generally.”

In their letters, the state legislators and university officials maintained that Cheyney over the last two years has “implemented a new student information system,” launched a strategy to improve its handling of federal financial aid, updated policies, and conducted training, while also coping with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cheyney president Aaron A. Walton has defended the university’s progress in recent years, noting that the school has finished with a balanced budget the last four years and increased enrollment to more than 700 students from a low of 469 a few years ago. That includes a 15% boost in freshmen this year, he said.

“Cheyney University’s probation status by Middle States misrepresents the university’s substantial advancements and commitment to academic excellence,” Walton said Friday.

Founded in 1837 by Quaker abolitionists, Cheyney has a long tradition of serving underprivileged students, many from the cash-strapped Philadelphia school system, and producing distinguished alumni, including Philadelphia civil rights activist Octavius V. Catto; Bayard Rustin, a chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington; and Ed Bradley, of 60 Minutes fame.

But the university has faced significant financial and enrollment challenges over more than a decade. Deficits climbed and charges of mismanagement surfaced, including lapses in the school’s handling of millions in federal financial aid funds between 2011 and 2014, which brought scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice. The university is on a payment plan to satisfy its debt to the federal education department for the financial aid problems and it remains on the department’s “heightened cash monitoring” list, which means it doesn’t receive advance payments for student financial aid but must request reimbursement.

In 2017, the state system tapped Walton, a retired executive from health insurer Highmark, to turn around the school.

Walton cut expenses to balance the budget and has emphasized lucrative career paths for students, an increase in the number of students in STEM majors, and establishment of partnerships that lead to internships, while leveraging Cheyney’s land and buildings to raise revenue.

But more than 90 students and alumni signed on to a discrimination complaint, originally filed with the state system in 2022, citing loss of academic and athletic facilities and teams, and poor conditions in some residence halls.

Walton has said that the university had addressed the complaints, and the state system dismissed allegations of discrimination, contending that Cheyney’s per-student funding has been at least double that of the former Mansfield University (now part of Commonwealth University), which had the next-highest per-pupil funding of its schools.

A group of alumni have formed a nonprofit, Save the Oldest HBCU Institute, in part aimed at wresting control of Cheyney from the state and placing it under the jurisdiction of the federal government, specifically the National Park Service. The proposal hasn’t yet gained traction.