Stillman’s female leader to retire

Warraick leaves legacy of ‘miracles’ reached

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Stillman College’s first female president, Cynthia Warrick, has announced plans to retire after leading the Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based historically Black college for five years.

Stillman’s Board of Trustees has launched a national search for Warrick’s replacement. The college plans to find her successor by the June 30, 2023, end of Warrick’s contract.

Warrick, 68, said she is choosing to retire because she wants to relax and spend more time with family, especially her grandchildren. She plans to return to her hometown of San Antonio.

Warrick was named Stillman’s seventh president in April 2017. She was originally appointed as an interim president but said the role began to feel like a mission she was called to fulfill, The Tuscaloosa News reported.

“I … didn’t expect to be here this long,” Warrick said during a news conference to announce her plans. “But you know, the job called me, God called me and we were able to accomplish miracles. Believe me, we were able to accomplish a lot in a short period of time … I’m ready to pass the torch on to the next person to take up the race.”

When she arrived, Stillman was at a critical point financially and academically, Warrick said.

“I was tasked with a real challenge, and my husband’s a finance guy and he said, ‘You’ll be home in three months.’ It was just that bad,” Warrick said. “But I figured God didn’t send me here to close the college down. And we were going to do what we had to do, to make sure that the college was going to be strong again and flourish. And now, after five and a half years, we’re there.”

According to a news release, Warrick is leaving Stillman debt-free after $40 million in debt has been either paid off or forgiven.

The school was founded in 1876 and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA.

“I will cherish the outpouring of support from the local community, the state and the alumni that has contributed to the success that we have achieved during my tenure,” Warrick said. “Stillman is now a place where a new president can build on the teaching, research and the community service that we established in the past five years.”

Larry Hardy The Associated Press file Cynthia Warrick was named the seventh president of Stillman in 2017, and she was the first female leader of the historically Black college in Tuscaloosa, Ala.