Many of the changes were mandated by the state legislature, and they weren't always welcomed by the state's fifty-eight campuses.
Still, Lenoir Community College President Lonnie Blizzard, president of the N.C. Association of the Community College President, believes most top administrators supported Hackley.
"Certain decisions, even though I support him, I wish had gone another way," Blizzard said. He declined to give specific examples, saying, "It's water under the bridge now."
Wicker said in a statement that the process of naming a new president will begin immediately. Some observers believe campus leaders will lobby for a new president to be promoted from one of the campuses. The president is elected by the North Carolina Board of Community Colleges, whose members are appointed by the governor, the state Senate and the House.
Hackley said he'll stay until a new president is named or until June 30, whichever comes first.
He hasn't accepted a new job yet, but he said he wants a position that allows him to focus on the issues he's most passionate about -- educational opportunity, racial and gender equity, and ethics.
He now holds several high-profile volunteer posts. He's national chairperson of Character Counts!, a nonprofit organization that tries to develop characteristics such as trustworthiness and respect in young people, and he was recently named to the National Commission on Civic Renewal.
"At this stage of my life, I don't want to just have a job to earn a living," he said. While some people have speculated he'd join the Clinton administration, he said he's never pursued that.
Said Spangler, a friend of Hackley's: "Sometimes good people don't win. And sometimes good people fail. Really good people persist and eventually carry out what they want to achieve. That's what I predict for Vic Hackley."
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