Jim Reynolds’ sudden departure from Millikin has elicited various emotions from students. From confused to mad, they are feeling it all.
On Monday, March 3rd, the head of the Board of Trustees, Ronald Branch, sent out an email breaking the news that Reynolds would be stepping down effective immediately.
“I want to inform you that President Jim Reynolds has stepped down from his role and will transition to administrative leave effective today, March 3, 2025,” the email read.
The email seemingly came out of the blue and caught students off guard. Sophomore Anna Ostrowski details her thought process when she received the email.
“There was no explanation, which makes me think that it might be something more cynical and something more than what students could comprehend, like something behind the scenes that we never knew about,” Ostrowski said.
The email itself also conjured up emotions for students. Junior Lorenz Delos Reyes thought that since the president stepping down early was a large issue, then why did Millikin only send out an email addressing it?
“My main thought was how sudden it was because I read it and it says he will transition to administrative leave, effective today, March 3, no two-week notice, no forewarning,” Reyes said. “It’s unprofessional how they did it and how they went about it.”
Although his early departure was surprising to students, senior Joshua Klaber Higgins was not angry at Reynolds’ early retirement.
“I was unaware that [Reynolds’ departure] was going to happen as quickly as it did,” Higgins said. “And I’m also not disappointed to hear that he’s departed the university.”
Throughout his four years at Millikin, Higgins has been very involved around campus. He is a Long-Vanderburg Scholar, sits on the School of Theatre and Dance (SOTAD) Student Advisory Committee, James Millikin Honors Scholar, and so much more. In short, Higgins has had various opportunities to meet and become acquainted with Reynolds.
“I sat on the committee on Student Affairs for two years, so I have had a few different moments of interaction with [Reynolds] throughout my time here,” Higgins said. “I think, unfortunately, his time as our president can be characterized as disconnected at best.”
Higgins’ feelings surrounding his relationship with Reynolds is a sentiment that other students share.
There is a small group of students at Millikin that receive the most prestigious scholarship at Millikin, the Presidential Scholarship. Millikin’s website details the qualifications for this scholarship as well as the expectations of those who receive this scholarship.
“Presidential Scholars [will] meet regularly with the University President and are expected to attend events as invited,” the website reads.
Meeting regularly with the President is clear in the expectations for the recipients, but meetings with Reynolds rarely occurred.
“I had a lot of expectations coming from the Presidential program, like, expecting that we would be a community and we would get to know the President and all this stuff,” Ostrowski, a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship, said. “But it’s really just an extension of the honors program with a bigger check.”
Higgins is a musical theatre major at Millikin and was disappointed to note that Reynolds rarely showed up to support the program.
“I don’t think that he took much of an active interest or participation in any form of student life here at Millikin,” Higgins said. “And to have been able to say that I’ve never seen President Reynolds at a performance, I think, is really disheartening. Of my records that I know of, he attended one production, which was Elf two years ago in the fall.”
However, not everyone’s thoughts about Reynolds are negative. Senior Guy Gahungu works through the catering service here at Millikin and has had positive interactions with him.
“When I work for catering, especially any event that is happening at the president’s house, where we have to cater, I’m there, so I get to interact with him on a simple, casual level,” Gahungu said. “I think he’s not the most outgoing person, but when you talk to him, you can connect with him. You know that he’s genuine.”
In the wake of Reynolds leaving, the head of the Board of Trustees, Ronald Branch, has taken over as acting president.
“I have no idea who [Ronald Branch] is, and I think that’s a little bit concerning because I know many people have no idea who he is, how long he’s been [here], and that was never explained,” Ostrowski said. “And now all of a sudden, [he’s] the one running the show, until the next president takes over.”
I’m sure various students across Millikin’s campus can relate to Ostrowski’s statement.
Gahungu has had the opportunity to get to know Branch and has nothing but positive things to say about him.
“I actually like his style; he [would] rather listen to what other people are suggesting and what other people are giving as inputs than rather just impose his views,” Gahungu said. “If there are any concerns of, ‘We don’t know him’ or ‘We want to know him,’ I think he’s an open guy and you can always chit chat with him.”
Regardless of opinions on Branch’s new position, nothing changes the fact that Reynolds is gone and students don’t know why.
Students have been quick to stir up speculations, and many have even dug into the timeline of events leading up to the email.
Last week, the faculty had their regular meeting. But that meeting turned into a closed faculty meeting, meaning no one other than faculty could enter.
“I don’t know what was discussed in the meeting, but I know that it became a closed meeting for faculty only, so faculty can call for that and vote and have administration removed,” Higgins said.
Although there are no factual elements students know about this meeting, many think that in the meeting they called for a vote of no confidence.
Then, last Saturday the Board of Trustees met. Similar to the faculty meeting, students do not know what was spoken about in the meeting, but there has been speculation that it had to do with Reynolds.
“I would not be shocked if the conglomeration of Monday, Saturday, and the time in between led to some form of encouragement for resignation,” Higgins said.
Millikin is at a standstill in the absence of former President Reynolds. Students are confused and awaiting answers to their questions.
“I think right now, especially with everything going on recently on campus, I think Millikin needs to proceed with caution because a lot of students don’t necessarily trust or feel comfortable with what’s going on,” Ostrowski said. “We’ve had a mass exodus of people leaving. We’ve had massive staff cuts to many departments and all the offices losing people, just like person after person, and a lot of students are scared right now.”
Students are scared, but they cannot just brush off what happened on Monday.
“I think what this conversation really should prompt for our fellow students is the idea of examining a college leadership food chain and understanding a flow of control and how that works,” Higgins said.
Students must become more involved, more aware, and more interested in what is happening on campus. Becoming involved allows students to be more informed on the issues.
Being informed is the first step to being able to have a voice in the future of Millikin.
Whether you liked Reynolds or didn’t, students now have a chance to set the expectations high for the new president.
“We don’t have control over the past president, but we do have the ability to set a clear set of expectations whenever the new president is announced, and I think we ought to act on that as best we can,” Higgins said.
