Gov. Wolf visits Cheyney, focuses on new mission

Days before the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education announced a task force to develop a new model of operation for cash-strapped Cheyney University, Gov. Wolf, without public attention, visited the historically black college's campus and pledged his support to help the school get on a better path.

"The governor believes that as the oldest HBCU in the country, that Cheyney has a really big brand, and that we can look to leverage Cheyney and its history by rethinking its mission and purpose and how we can really move that school forward," said Sarah Galbally, Wolf's secretary for policy and planning and a member of the new task force.

Frank Pogue, Cheyney's interim president, said he saw Wolf's visit last week, as well as visits by members of Pennsylvania's Black Caucus and the state system's chancellor, as hopeful signs. The governor, he said, also plans to be Cheyney's commencement speaker in May.

"We see all of this as a good sign for us," said Pogue, who became interim leader in 2014. "It just sends the right message to the entire university community."

The state system this week appointed the task force to develop a new institutional model for the 730-student university, which has lost more than half of its enrollment over the last decade. Over the last five years, the system has extended the university a line of credit totaling more than $30 million so that the school could  continue to operate.

Because of its financial woes, the university was placed on accreditation probation in 2015. Cheyney also that year was cited for the mismanagement of student financial aid and still may have to repay $29 million to the U.S. Department of Education.

Much of Cheyney's financial struggle is due to its declining enrollment, part of an overall decline at the 14 state system universities, largely fueled by a drop in high school graduates nationally. But the decline at Cheyney has been particularly precipitous.

Robert W. Bogle, chair of Cheyney's council of trustees, and Aaron A. Walton, a vice chair of the board of governors, will cochair the task force, which is expected to make preliminary recommendations by May.

Joan Duvall Flynn, president of NAACP Pennsylvania, said she would like to see different co-chairs and a new point of view.

"We just genuinely feel that there must be a difference in leadership," said Flynn, whose husband is a retired Cheyney professor and whose three children graduated from Cheyney.

Galbally said Bogle and Walton have a strong commitment to the university and want to work with others to improve it.

One option the task force will consider is developing a new focus as an honors college, capitalizing on Cheyney's successful Keystone Honors Academy for high-achieving students. The academy currently enrolls 135 students, about 18 percent of Cheyney's enrollment. Most of the students in the academy receive a scholarship that covers full tuition, fees, and room and board, much of it funded by the state.

The task force will not look at merging Cheyney with another institution but at how to make it successful on its own, Galbally said. The group will review steps taken by other historically black colleges, she said.

Pogue, who received both his bachelor's and master's from historically black universities, said he looked forward to the results.

Applications to Cheyney are up 30 percent for the fall class, he said. "We anticipate we could end up with 900 students this fall," Pogue said.