Director of St. Mary’s County Public Libraries Kathleen Reif (standing) gives St., Mary’s College President Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan some information on the collaboration between the libraries and the college

Lexington Park, MD — The St. Mary’s County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held their Annual American Education Week Celebration Sunday afternoon at the Lexington Park Library. The event featured a Meet and Greet with new St. Mary’s College President Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan. Dr. Jordan and Interim St. Mary’s County Superintendent of Schools Scott Smith spoke at the event.

Dr. Jordan was introduced by NAACP VP Sylvia Thompson Brown as being the college’s first black president and one of only a handful of black women college presidents. “I am a little overwhelmed by this presidency thing,” Dr. Jordan said, adding who when they were growing up ever wanted to be a college president. “It’s just something that happens to you,” she quipped.

In fact that’s is exactly what happened to Jordan who received a B.S. in chemistry from Fisk University in 1982 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Purdue U. in 1989 and began her career in the sciences. But her career path verged in 2002 when she became Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Xavier University. Because of her coordinated efforts with other administrators in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Xavier was the first institution in the city to reopen its doors to classes. Most recently she has been at Lewis and Clark College in Oregon.

So now Jordan, the scientist, is president of St. Mary’s College, a public honors Liberal Arts institution. With so much of the emphasis on STEM education these days, Jordan said, “I am a scientist but everything isn’t science.”

“You need a passion in what you do,” Jordan said to the teachers in the audience. She insisted that “government doesn’t know how to teach” and that government interference has led to “teaching to the test.”

She brought applause from the audience by saying that families must play a role in teaching their children, that everything can’t be left up to the schools and its teachers. She said when she didn’t do well in school her mother didn’t blame her teachers, “She blamed Tuajuanda.”

Embracing the role of her new institution, she said, “Students need to be exposed to everything,” observing that the best musicians are also good at math.
At St. Mary’s she will be working to enhance staff diversity. But she insisted that diversity should not be achieved at the expense of quality. She said at the very least she will insist that whoever is hired will understand and be open to the objective of diversity.

“I want everyone to come to St. Mary’s College because we are a public honors college,” she said, but also because the college is a financial bargain when compared to others and especially because, “We can get your kid out in four years instead of six.”

She noted that the student/teacher ratio at St. Mary’s is 10 to one. “They will get attention but we will work your butt,” she said.

Interim Superintendent of Schools Scott Smith said he has worked with the NAACP on a committee reviewing the student/achievement gap. He said he expects the graduation rate to go up when it is announced later this year and that will also show improvement in minority achievement.

Smith said the budget crisis at the end of the school year caused a curtailment in teacher recruitment efforts, but that Bethune-Cookman, a historically black college in Florida, was targeted, along with some virtual recruitment and use of social media. Of the 82 new teachers hired for the current school year, he said 13 could be considered ethnic minorities.

But the makeup of the teacher population still falls short of reflecting the school system and community minority composition: seven percent of teachers vs. 18 percent of the community and 20 percent of the student body.

Smith said that minority teachers often leave for better pay in other counties after being recruited. “We do a good job of training them but we don’t do a good job of retaining them,” he said.

He hopes to change that. “I consider St. Mary’s County to be a destination occupation,” said the 31-year veteran of the school system. “I pledge that seven percent is not where we want to be.” He asked the audience for help in the recruiting effort.

The event Mistress of Ceremonies was NAACP 1st VP and Education Committee Chair Dr. Janice Walthour, a retired educator. NAACP President Andrea Bowman opened the event with a welcome.

The annual event was co-sponsored by the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions. Their president, Nathaniel Scroggins also gave a greeting.
Walthour gave a prayer from the writing of W.E.B Dubois, one of the founders of the NAACP; Zenobia Dyson read a poem.

After the formal ceremony, various members of the audience rose to tell Dr. Jordan about their community organizations.

(Below) Dr. Jordan (l) with NAACP VP Dr. Janice Walthour