The president of a historically Black university in Florida abruptly left his position to become a leader at a Massachusetts university.

According to HBCU Buzz, the former leader of Bethune-Cookman University, LaBrent Chrite, will become the president of one of the top business schools in the northeast, Bentley University.

Chrite becomes the first Black person to hold the critical position, but he parts from B-CU, leaving some people “personally and professionally” baffled, too.

“I am personally and professionally extremely disappointed Dr. Chrite is leaving,” Nancy Lohman, a former B-CU board member, said in a text to The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 

“He was the brightest and best breath of fresh air we have seen at B-CU in years. He was a superb choice to lead B-CU and was the ‘new day’ at B-CU that the students deserved and our community longed for,” she said. 

Lohman is currently spearheading the B-CU community effort to place a statue of beloved civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune in Statuary Hall, a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to prominent Americans’ sculptures.

The former board member shared that she and her husband, Lowell Lohman, are heartbroken. They added that their concern is that Chrite had gifts of objectivity, relationship-building and business acumen that did not come to light at B-CU as often as they should have.

“Brent Chrite shares our vision and passion for educating ethical leaders who make [a] business a force for positive change,” Paul Condrin, interim president and chair of Bentley’s board of trustees, said in an announcement on the school’s homepage.

Condrin’s statement further reads that Chrite “has dedicated his career to improving business education and expanding economic opportunities across the country and around the world, and I know he will lead Bentley University to greater heights in the years to come.”

In 2019, Chrite was appointed the top B-CU position by the school’s board of trustees. Around that time, the school was steering through significant financial and academic challenges, among other things. B-CU faced a tumultuous lawsuit over a dormitory project and was on probation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

The Florida HBCU has since seen better days due to an increase in annual funding from $4 million to $17 million in 2020.

“The Board of Trustees of Bethune-Cookman University has learned that current president, Dr. E. LaBrent Chrite, announced his resignation this morning to members of his cabinet during a regularly scheduled meeting,” a press release sent to the media stated.

“While the Chair, Executive Committee and members of the Board of Trustees were not privy to this decision before Dr. Chrite’s announcement to his cabinet, we wish him and his family good fortune, good health, and happiness as they move on to the next chapter in their lives,” the press release continued.

On Thursday, Chrite took to YouTube to address his resignation, setting the record straight.

“It is important that you hear the facts from me. I’m aware of the comments and misrepresentations that have been made about the Board of Trustees, and about my departure,” he said in the video to the B-CU community.

“Look, presidents and boards have disagreements,” he added, acknowledging that he and the board have had disagreements. 

It was rumored that Chrite’s departure from the historically Black university was fueled by conflicts with the board of trustees. But Chrite wanted it to be known that they share a common bond— a love for B-CU and a desire to advocate for HBCUs.

“This is part of leadership. And I may have had disagreements with my board leadership, but these disagreements pale in comparison to what we have accomplished together. And such disagreements are part of the natural order of things,” he said.

Bentley, a private university located in Waltham, Massachusetts focused on business, with undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. programs, announced Chrite as its ninth president on March 17, 2021, after a nationwide search for its next leader.

He starts his new position on June 1.