Knoxville College has named its new interim president following the departure of its previous leader in July.
Dasha Lundy previously served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the school between 2021 and 2023. She submitted her resignation in 2023 citing concerns of the administration’s decisions.
Lundy’s appointment comes as the school is roughly $2.3 million in debt, according to its Form 990. The school also owes $400,000 to the City of Knoxville for securing abandoned buildings on campus and over $32,000 in city property taxes. Lundy adds the school's $4.4 million loan with Foundation Capital Resources matures on January 1, 2026.
Lundy sat down with WUOT’s Jacqui Sieber to talk about her priorities as leader. The conversation started off with Lundy’s path of becoming the schools’ interim president two years after her resignation.
This interview has been edited for clarity
Lundy: I think in 2019 I was appointed to the board, so I ended up becoming a vice chair of the board. And around, I want to say the end of 2020, the former president resigned. So in 2021 I was appointed the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Knoxville college. And that was a journey, to say the least, but it's a lot of growing pains, because a lot of our infrastructure is really not there, but we have a strong education part. It's just the operations need a little help. So I went through all that just putting things together end up reducing my time, because my background is physical therapy, so I stopped doing that just to go full time at the college. I said, let's start uncovering stuff and just working through accreditation. Thank you to University of Tennessee for working with us and also working with Dr. James at Morris Brown College, which Morris Brown College regained their accreditation after 20 some years of not having it. So during that time, just doing the work, and I just noticed some things that I realized wasn't aligned to what I believe that we should be aligned with, is really focusing on bringing the college back. And I end up, I guess I'm the whistleblower, that's what I call myself, which was very hard to do, and it resulted in my departure. And here we go two years and that was in May of 23 and two years later, I'm here as interim president. The board asked me if I was willing to come back, and I am back. And it was very hard, it took a lot of prayer. So people that know me,I am a woman of faith. I walk a different path. I'm very intentional about my walk. It was just very interesting to be called back in this time, and people ask me, 'Well, why do you why did you come back,' when the same it was kind of like the same board that I don't want to say they didn't value what I said, or they didn't believe me. I don't know if that's the board's question, but it's the same people that were there, and what gave me great comfort is that I realized that they see, they are aware of the challenges. There has always been a big critique of our board, because most of our board does not live in Knoxville, so it's really hard to restore institutions when you don't have too many boots on the ground. That's the word that we've been using, especially when you have your last two previous administrators who did not live in Knoxville. They lived in Atlanta.
Sieber: Walk us through the moments leading up to your appointment as Casey's interim president. What was going through your head?
Oh, wait, it was a lot. I journal. So that's my journaling keeps me sane. It's just walking through it and stating, first of all, people didn't know me. Know I'm very close to my parents. I didn't tell my parents that was talking to the board and to the final call that they because I had to go through an interview process. But, you know, they were engaging. I was engaging. I didn't tell my parents, because they were with me when I was a whistleblower. They understood. And it was, you know, all that trauma that comes with that. And I remember telling my mama, I said,' I'm going back.' She's like, 'No, you're not.' She's like, 'You're not going back. ' And I said, 'I think I'm supposed to.' I think this is a higher call that I can't explain. But at the end of day, I had to make peace. I'll start crying. But anyway, I'm a strong woman, people. I had to make peace of where we are. Either we're going to go back and restore this school, it may not look the same, and we're going to do our part to educate, empower and elevate our community, not only our community, but our region, but hopefully our whole world. Or, I'm going to have to be the leader to put it to rest, and I had to be okay with that and not carry the burden if it has to be laid to rest, which I don't want that. But I had to have my faith side of me and my practical side of me, because when you look at the numbers and you look at your bank accounts, things don't be mathing. And this is a business that we have to run, and we have to run efficiently. So that was going through my head, because I know being an interim president this time, our eyes are on me. But I promise I was not going to carry this burden, because this is 30 plus years of decline, and that's all I thought during that time.
With the college not having accreditation since 1997 and debt growing, there's a lot of things that are happening at the college. And with the modular building that was once no longer there, which was meant for classrooms, it's kind of like it has gone back to being an abandoned campus. What are your plans to re-engage alumni, donors, local government and community stakeholders to rebuild trust and investment in KC?
I've been in meetings even before I signed the document just asking, 'Will you support?' And I'm not, of course, we need money, but I want to know if I have cheerleaders. That is so important. Do people see value in Knoxville college? That's where I'm trying to align with people that see the value of why the HBCU is still there, even though we're on life support, we've been here for 150 years. Knoxville grew. Around Knoxville college, my thought process was, just start building the teams and everybody figuring out the talents and people's passions and like, let's just get to work, because what's most important to me right now is bigger than saving Knoxville college. It's really about bringing the community together. And what is my dream? Yes, I want to see Knoxville College thriving, but my dream is during this time with whatever is going on in our nation, all the divisiveness, I want something to be done that has not been done before. Here, seeing the black, the white, the brown, communities come together and help us restore and remember our purpose is centered around education, and not just what we say. Higher education is gaining associates or masters or a doctorate degree. It's about training, uplifting a generation to be able to survive in this new America that we are embracing or trying to embrace, with all the technological changes going on and all the innovation, all of us are going to be left behind if we don't adopt a lot of stuff. So this has nothing to do with race anymore. As you know, we only became HBCU because of race. We couldn't be educated with white people. So that's why we're the HBCU. But now I see something bigger, and how can we come together, walk hand in hand, to be a part of this new wave of technology and what artificial intelligence and whatever however America is going to look like in five years. And I hope people agree that we are living in a different time. And I have a feeling in five years, we won't know, we don't know what it looks like as far as America, but we know that we're in a shift and a change.
Touching up on what you said about the board. What changes in governance, board composition or oversight do you believe are necessary to prevent a recurrence of past failures?
Of course, having more people in Knoxville and maybe have the board come to Knoxville more often. But I think the first line right now you deal with what you have, what's in your hand. My goal is to be transparent with the board. And you know, when I interview, I say, 'Is this going to be a working board? Because run the school, but I'm going to need extra hands. So are we? Are we in this together? We establish that because organizations fail, and it's just not because it has troubles. I mean, we, you know, our troubles came a long time ago and a lot of organizations had the same trouble. And some of them don't exist, and we're still here, but it's all about building trust right now. We got to build trust with each other. We got to make sure communication is open, and I think that's a big part of why we are where we are. So that's the plan. First, the simple plan is to build, dress, communicate, this is what I'm working on. What are you working on? Or how are you doing today? Is there anything you need? And we have established that we got to work on our relationship and our trust with each other. And I think once you have that root, then it just spreads out to gain more people on the team. Everybody can't serve on the board, but people can be a part of the team of helping. Got plenty of things that we can do. We can cut grass, we can clean, we can restore McMillan-Reese Chapel. That's my main goal right now. We have a roof leak, so it's only so much we can do at this time.
How did the board previously meet under past leadership, and how were board members elected? And do you have any changes for how you elect or appoint board members?
So, I don't get to elect or appoint because I am the interim. So, the board is my boss. The board meets virtually. Lately, they've been meeting virtually weekly because we were being in a transition since we lost our previous president in July. I think they listened to my recommendations of having more Knoxville people here and not and they know that. But you know you have to talk to people. You have to interview people. The board that I see now, they really want to see Knoxville College thrive. And I'll just leave it at that. I I don't want to be critical of past board members, or past administrations. During my quiet time, I realized, and even my mama said that she like 'Dasha, they might not want what you want.' I'm going after accreditation. I want to see a restored school. And I believe that with all my heart, some people don't see that. When they don't see that, they're going to go with the next best option. And maybe that's where the divide is. So it's really about getting on the same page. Are we on the same team? And if we're not, then somebody needs to part ways. And I think I'm on the team, and I believe I'm on the team with the board that wants to see the school thrive.
What metrics or milestones will you use to measure success at the school?
Student enrollment, increasing the finances. I want to see more students. I want to see more activities on that campus. Of course, I want to get rid of $4.4 million because when I do that, we're going to have a big party.
And just for our listeners, the $4.4 million refers to...
To the loan that was taken out in 2003 by a previous president. And I will say that Knoxville College has not always been compliant with that loan, but we have been compliant since 2021 or 2022 I don't remember, it is whenever we sold the Pilot gas station. I don't know if people know that we owned 50% stake in the Pilot gas station that was on Western Avenue, but it's now Casey's. But yeah, so during that time, we did restructure the debt, but now it balloons in January, and they want all their money now, and that's where we are. So those are the metrics. Hopefully finding ways to get rid of that debt, whether talking to banks about maybe caring that to give us more grace period, talking to CDFIs to see if they can help right now, but those are the main metrics, and just increasing enrollment, because we're in the business of education, and I told my team, I said I asked my team, not told them. I asked them, 'Do you think that we're doing a good job at telling our story? Are we doing a good job at recruiting?' And I know we're not accredited, but we do have students. And even when I was there before, I used to ask the students, 'Why are you here?' And they loved it. They love our professors. They love that we're virtual. They love that it's a HBCU, just to see the excitement. Because a lot of our students, some of them, didn't think they could make it in college, and they're making it. I had a former student reach out to me after he heard that I became interim president, and he said, 'Congratulations, Dr. Lundy.' He said, 'You helped me so much when I was in school there.' And he graduated, and he went through so much, and he stuck through it, and we helped him. And that's what makes us unique. We're small, but we understand that we're a family and we're here. College is not easy for everybody, and we're walking, we walk it out with people that know it's not easy, and we're trying to get them to the finish line. And that's our ultimate call. That's our mission, and that's why I want to see more people. There are more people that want to be in school, but they're scared.
You were once a teacher at Knoxville College Do you have any plans on teaching again?
I haven't been asked. We have a Vice President Academic Affairs, and I trust his leadership. It's Dr. Lindsey, who was a previous president. And, yeah, if they want me to, because I love the classroom. I love talking, I love encouraging. But yeah, I did teach medical terminology. And like I said, I have other former students that text me. They're like, 'you taught us so much in class.' I like to bridge the gap, I don't want you to just learn these words and pass the test. I want you to know your 'why.' It's like, if you have a family member in the hospital, you can talk to the doctor and the nurse and feel educated on asking the right questions to help your loved one. So when I put it in that, it shifted their mind so they were able to be like, 'Oh, we're not learning medical terminology just to get an A in the class. 'This is about living life and, you know, participating in our own health.
With the accreditation factor not here yet, it might be hard for students to transfer that credit to another college; it might be harder to find a job since it's not from an accredited university. What's something you would tell prospective students who might have that concern?
Well, we have to go through THEC, which is Tennessee Higher Education Commission, to even offer classes. And I would say this, Knoxville College lost its federal accreditation in 1997; we had students all that time who have graduated from an unaccredited Knoxville College. And I can, I'm thinking of one in my head. I can't think of her name now. She came to University of Tennessee and I think she got her bachelor's degree, because we still offer bachelor's degree. She came to UT, I think, to get her master's in her PhD, and she has a really nice job in Oak Ridge now. So there's a possibility. I know things are changing. It might be harder to get to any institutions regardless right now, but you should be able to transfer your credits within the state of Tennessee, and we will continue to work on articulation agreements with other colleges as that becomes available.
Can you give us the status of where Knoxville College is in terms of the accreditation process through the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools?
Unfortunately, an application was turned in last August 2024 and it came with a lot of violations. But that packet should not have been turned in, so I'm not sure why it was turned in. And you only have a year to do your corrections, and we are past that year, so honestly, we have to start back over. So that's where we are, and it's going to take probably at least three to four, maybe five years to get accreditation, because you have to have three clean financial audits to make sure, we're stable. So just trying to stabilize the school right now.
Since you've mentioned the college needing three clean financial audits for the accreditation process, what are your first steps in addressing Knoxville College's growing debt?
Just running my mouth, really, just like I said, just getting people in the room that are in the financial industry. I said, 'Is there something we can create outside of just asking, 'Can you forgive our debt?'' You know, that's the audacious way. Outside, you know, Homecoming people raising money outside of just fundraising, but talking to people in the industry. Is there any way a bank can take care of it? Is there any way a CDFI can help us? That's kind of where I'm at, an investor that believes that we should be here. I'm open. I don't want to lose our land. If there's an investor or philanthropist in the community that wants to pay it [the debt], that's fine, but I don't want to be kicked off [the land]. It's like, what can we do to be in partnership? Because I know people want to return on their investment, but right now, I'm open. I don't think I can be very choosy of how it gets done. I just tell people, I'm just casting my net, and I'm casting it wide, and I may look crazy doing it, but that's fine.
Throughout my coverage of Knoxville college, I've noticed the alumni base is very strong, and they really embody the school's motto, 'Let there be light.' What is something you can say to alumni who believe the college can come back?
I say, don't give up, because the alumni have seen knots for college through as rough as times, and it's still here. So that's a testimony within itself. When we say, 'Let there be light. 'We need to continue to share our why. Why Knoxville College? So many alumni have beautiful stories about how they end up at Knoxville college, how Knoxville College changed their life. We need a shout from the mountaintops. Each alumnus should tell their Knoxville College story and encourage others to come there. We have so much history, so much a rich, rich history, to share our story. Because I just really feel like people don't know our story. They see our decline, they see our blight, but they don't see our light. Our light has been dimmed, and I hope that we can take the dark clouds and remove them and just be that light again, and be that voice, be that be that voice for our community and our region and our globe, that's what we're supposed to do.
That was Dasha Lundy Knoxville College's newest interim president. Thank you for your time, Dasha.
Thank you.
