Dr. Glenda Glover, President of Tennessee State University President has announced on Monday she is retiring from her position after a 10-year tenure at her alma mater.

According to the Tennessean, Glover plans to leave the university at the end of the spring 2024 semester.

At a news conference held at the TSU campus on Monday (August 14), expressed her gratitude for being able to lead the storied HBCU.

"Serving as president of Tennessee State University has been the honor of a lifetime," Glover said. "This is where I got my start. I came to Tennessee State University, graduated in 1974. From 1974 to 2024, a 50-year blessing. And now it's only appropriate that I announce my retirement from the place that gave me my start."

Although she did not disclose her future plans, Glover said that her voice is needed on a "more national platform.”

"My skillset, leadership, voice is needed now much more than ever as we fight to protect access and equity," she continued.

Rev. Gerald Durley, who served as the president of TSU’s student government association in the 1960s, described Glover’s retirement as a "rewirement."

TSU has not named a new president and Glover said she will not be a part of the search process.

A native of Memphis, Glover, graduated from TSU, earned an MBA from Clark Atlanta University, a law degree from Georgetown and a doctorate from George Washington University, according to her biography on the school’s website. From 1976 to 1990, she had a distinguished career in the business sector before taking a position as a faculty member at Howard University where she taught accounting.

Moving into administration in higher education, in 1994, Glover was named Dean of the College of Business at Jackson State University in Mississippi. In January 2013, she was appointed president of  TSU.

Glover’s announcement comes at a challenging time for the HBCU.In 2021, a report discovered that TSU was extremely underfunded as “the only land-grant, historically Black university in the state.” According to the analysis, TSU missed out on $544 million over several decades following Tennessee’s failure to properly earmark “equitable land-grant funds.”

Under Glover’s leadership, TSU recorded its highest fall enrollment in the school’s history but with the influx of students combined with a lack of student housing and rising rent in Nashville rents, some students were forced to live in local hotels.

Because of the housing issue, Glover’s leadership came under scrutiny as Republican lawmakers proposed to vacate the Board of Trustees at TSU. Glover responded by saying that TSU would have adequately housed new students if the school received equitable funds like other land-grant schools in the state.

“To remove or dismantle TSU leadership at this point in time would not only hurt and destroy the legacy of TSU but will cause irreparable harm to our students and their families,” she told a special Senate committee in February. “It’s time to support TSU and not destroy TSU.”

During Glover’s tenure, TSU increased grant funding to over $100 million this year, doubled contributions to their  endowments, and the university was classified as a "high research.” Also, the university became the first HBCU with an ice hockey team.

Tennessee House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, who also attended the news conference, lauded Glover’s leadership at TSU and for bringing national attention to the university.

“President Glover has worked tirelessly for Tennessee State University for the past decade and has done a fantastic job," Camper said in a statement. "She has navigated some difficult times at the University as well, always developing solutions with dignity and class. ... I wish her luck in her well-deserved retirement, although I’m sure Dr. Glover will continue to be busy and will continue to advocate for TSU and all of the other causes that she has fought for so passionately.