Grambling State University president Dr. Raymond A. Hicks is leaving his job after losing the confidence of the Louisiana Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities while ongoing financial and administrative problems continue to plague the northern Louisiana school.

Hicks confirmed his decision to leave in a hastily arranged press conference earlier this month, declaring that to "continue to fight for the opportunity to complete the plan of this presidency could destroy me personally and professionally, as well as destroy this great institution."

Hicks said he was forced to resign after being told by Carl Shetler, the new chairman of the Louisiana's board of trustees, that a voting majority of the state board had coalesced "to end this presidency today, after only two years."

Hicks's sudden departure leaves Grambling reeling. Dawn Wilson, a spokesperson for the board, said there is currently no "immediate candidate to replace Dr. Hicks," although on recent occasions Grambling Provost Leonard Hayes has served as acting president in Hicks's absence.

"A committee of three has been appointed by the board of trustees to discuss and make recommendations for an interim president," Wilson added. "And we are obviously hoping that person will be named as soon as possible."

Brandy Evans, campus editor for the Gramblinite, the school paper, said Hicks's exit leaves many unanswered questions.

"All the students know for sure is that he resigned and that he was obviously forced to do so. But none of us know the reasons why," she said.

In fact, the only thing that nearly everyone at Grambling is certain of is that Hicks's tenure as president was stormy. He was named acting president in July 1994 after the former Grambling president, Harold Lundy, was fired by the board in the wake of a state audit which unearthed two dozen instances of rules violations and mismanagement.

Hicks was named president one year later. Since then he has been at the center of an endless swirl of controversies that include: the exodus of the university's bursar, comptroller, and general accounting manager after a state audit reported missing deposits totalling $20,000; a grading scandal that included a total of nearly 1,400 grade changes, mostly for athletes whose low scores threatened their eligibility as players; and a state report released earlier this year showing that Grambling is burdened by a continuing uncollectible debt load of just over $1 million.

To add to Hicks's troubles, tougher admission requirements and higher tuition have resulted in a steady decline in enrollment--down from more than 7,500 in 1993 to less than 6,000 this fall. In addition, Grambling has an overall budget shortfall of some $4 million.

"Dr. Hicks just lost his support among a majority of board members who felt he was not working fast enough to solve Grambling's problems," said Vickie Jackson, director of Grambling's university relations. "I don't think his exit was entirely unanticipated."

Hicks, however, defended his tenure in office, noting that he "worked hard to implement solutions which would have restored the integrity and improved the quality of this learning community."

In his first year in office, Hicks appointed five new vice presidents. And earlier this year, he was credited in a study published by a state educational consulting committee for taking steps to put Grambling on a more sound financial footing.

But Hicks also made many enemies, according to Evans. Perhaps his most dramatic confrontation came when he sought to force the retirement of football coaching legend Eddie Robinson in 1996. The attempted ouster occurred after back-to-back losing seasons and a National Collegiate Athletic Association investigation into possible rules violations. In response, hundreds of alumni and students flooded the president's office with calls of protest, prompting Hicks to relent and permit the 78-year-old Robinson to coach one last season.

For now, Hicks will "relinquish the day-to-day management of the university," but his official resignation will not be effective until next June. Until then, Hicks added, he will "do as Mr. Shetler requested, I will take earned leave."

While Hicks has given up his authority as president; he will continue to receive his $105,000 a year salary up to June 30, 1998. In a more than two-hour stretch of negotiations between Hicks and the members of the board, which included several phone calls between Shetler and Hicks and a series of faxed statements, Hicks was allowed to remain on leave up to December 31, 1998, after which time he is expected to resume his duties as a full professor in Grambling's College of Education at $65,000 a year.

In addition, Hicks agreed to move out of the spacious president's residence by the end of the month, a move that will be aided by university workers.

Although Shetler was unavailable for comment, one Grambling official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a move may be underway -- after the forced departures now of two consecutive Grambling presidents -- to appoint a short-term outsider whose mission would be to "clear up, as much as possible, most or all of our financial troubles. That way the next president might at least have a fighting chance."