COLUMBIA — Ernest McNealey is out as president of Allen University after more than nine years leading the small, historically Black school.
The board of trustees is not renewing his contract, meaning he is no longer university president effective Dec. 15, a letter from board chair James Davis to students and staff said.
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“Even though moments of transition can raise questions, I want to reassure each of you that our institution remains strong, stable, and firmly committed to its mission,” his letter read. Davis is the bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s seventh district, which owns the downtown Columbia university.
He explained the board’s decision to The Post and Courier as an effort to bring new ideas into the school to “make sure we can move to the next level.”
McNealey could not immediately be reached for comment on the decision.
The board voted to appoint Stanley Pritchett, Sr., as interim president. Pritchett is a former president of Morris Brown College in Atlanta who helped steer that school through a financial crisis before he resigned in 2018, according to reporting from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Davis pointed to that experience as reason for bringing him on as interim president, but said there was no intention for him to take the job in a long-term capacity.
McNealey’s departure comes amid scrutiny from the federal government over a multi-million-dollar building project that turned a historic hospital in the Waverly neighborhood into a multipurpose campus building.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development froze federal funding for the project that would have been worth $4.3 million after the school submitted re-dated invoices. The FBI opened a probe earlier this year after a now-former member of its board raised questions about a series of companies created to secure tax credits for the project.
Those companies were given ownership of the building and leased it back to the school, which had prompted concerns from some that McNealey effectively owned the building because he was the sole agent of the shell companies. An attorney for the university told trustees in December 2024 that the now-former president did not own the LLCs or receive any rent or interest from the project, as The Post and Courier previously reported.
That situation did not influence the board’s decision to not extend McNealey’s contract, Davis said.
He said he had not been contacted by the FBI and was not aware of any federal investigation. He also noted that an investigation started by the school found that there was “no credibility” to allegations of “some kind of nefarious act having been conducted.”
McNealey had signed off on the LLCs on behalf of his office, so his successor would do the same, Davis said.
The board chair said he was excited about the school’s future.
“There is no lack of faith in Allen University,” Davis said. “We are pressing on, doing more now to show our love for the institution than ever before.”
McNealey was first hired as Allen’s interim president in 2016 after the university’s board fired its previous leader without explanation.
He had previously worked as president of Stillman College in Alabama.
