University denies interim director termination claims in letter sent by Nyumburu student ambassadors
EDITORS NOTE: The Nyumburu Cultural Center sponsors The Black Explosion Newspaper’s website through July. Laura Charleston signed the student ambassador’s letter and is the copy chief for The Black Explosion. She did not work on this story.
Vice President of Belonging and Community, Georgina Dodge, denies allegations from Nyumburu student ambassadors that Nyumburu Interim Director Psyche Williams-Forson will be prematurely terminated by the end of the month.
The allegations come from a letter the student ambassadors sent to university officials on Thursday. Seventeen individuals signed the letter: 14 student ambassadors, the co-president’s of the University’s NAACP chapter and Black faculty and staff association President Solomon Comissiong.
Dodge claims “there is absolutely no desire” to prematurely terminate Williams-Forson’s position.
In the letter they demanded that the University of Maryland keep Williams-Forson in her position through 2028 among other calls for clarity and transparency.
“We have both witnessed, directly and indirectly, the unfair treatment Dr. Williams-Forson has endured at the hands of the Office of Belonging and Community, and we refuse to remain silent,” the letter said.
However, in a statement to the Black Explosion on Friday, Williams-Forson said “As we move toward August 2026, my focus remains on continuity, transparency and student-centered leadership.”
Dodge says she was surprised by the letter, expressing her disappointment that no one came to her beforehand. She also said “this is not the first time that misinformation has circulated through Nyumburu.”
Williams-Forson took over as interim director in 2025 after former Director Ronald Zeigler announced his retirement. In 2019, at the start of Dodge’s tenure as vice president of Belonging and Community (then office of Diversity and Inclusion), Zeigler accused Dodge of micromanaging the center at an open forum.
When asked, Dodge said she has addressed the issues with Zeigler since.
“It really validates our decision to move forward with the search for permanent leadership,” she said. “Psyche has never come to me and said that there has been mistreatment.”
The key piece of contradicting information between both sides is regarding Williams-Forson’s year-long contract as interim director. The letter claims that it was set to prematurely end in April, however Dodge says it’s set to end in August. Williams-Forson’s statement implies a continued presence with the center heading into the summer.
Dodge said she met with Williams-Forson last week regarding the end of her contract. On Tuesday, she met with Nyumburu staff to inform them about the start of the hiring process and that Williams-Forson’s contract would end in late August. According to Dodge, the staff affirmed that the end date was good.
Additionally, she said that Comissiong, Nyumburu’s assistant director of student involvement and public relations, was in attendance. He also signed the letter.
Comissiong did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
There will be a national search for the next Nyumburu director. Anne Reese Carswell, the associate director of the center who did not sign the letter, will be on the search committee and work with Belonging and Community to identify a student representative. Dodge is aiming to fill the position by the start of next semester.
Dodge said that Williams-Forson is fully eligible to apply for the position if she chooses to do so.
Jade Blackmoore, a Nyumburu student ambassador who signed the letter, said the group learned that the search process would begin last week.
The students said they wrote the letter “out of deep love for Nyumburu Cultural Center and what it represents.”
“Nyumburu has stood as a Freedom House since 1971. We will not allow it to be quietly diminished with the loud threats of performative allyship,” the letter said.
The ambassadors claimed that Williams-Forson has increased Nyumburu’s visibility on campus, defined students’ positions, improved the center’s marketing, advocated for upgrading the building and the interests of students and staff.
“Dr. Williams-Forson stepped into her role with humility and grace. She came in asking, ‘What can I do to help?’ and made sure to listen first,” the ambassadors wrote. “She approached everything with cultural sensitivity and consciousness.”
This current controversy comes almost a year removed from the university’s takedown of the site hosting the 25 critical issues Black students raised in 2020. Since then the university has returned the site with numerous details missing.
Additionally, the university has removed information and sites relating to the offices of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy and Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life.
When asked if the university is backsliding on its commitments to diversity on campus, Dodge said, “I think the fact that the university is stepping forward in hiring a permanent position and demonstrate that it supports the Nyumburu Cultural Center is a very powerful message.”
Dodge “guarded her language” as she talked about national issues like President Donald Trump’s attacks on higher-education institutions.
“We are trying to avoid any harm happening to our Black population specifically and to all others and to our university,” she said. “It does not show a lack of commitment, it shows our way of protecting our commitments.”
The ambassadors expect a response from the university within 10 days of Thursday. They did not respond to Dodge’s denial in time for publication.
Nina Wilson contributed to this report.
Read the letter sent by Nyumburu student ambassadors: