Randall L. Richardson was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Limestone University in May of 2023, the first African American to hold that position in the university’s nearly 200-year history. He had served for the previous two years as Secretary of the Board of Trustees.
In his professional life, Richardson is the CFO for the Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center in Black Mountain, NC, which is operated by the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services.
Limestone is an independent, coeducational, non-denominational Christian university campus located in Gaffney, South Carolina. The school offers associate, undergraduate, and master’s degree programs on campus as well as through its online program.
“I am extremely honored to be elected Chair of the Limestone University Board of Trustees,” Richardson said. “I’m thankful to my fellow Board members for trusting me as we work together to make Limestone the very best that it can be. Limestone has been a pioneer in so many ways, beginning with its founding in 1845 as the first institution of higher education for women in South Carolina, and one of the first in the nation.”
In a statement, Richardson noted that “the task at hand isn’t about me, and it’s not about the other members of our Board. It’s about the students from diverse backgrounds we serve, including those who may have found access to higher education difficult. It’s about changing the trajectory of their lives and of the generations who will come after them. What makes this university unique is that we are a community of women and men of different races, religions, geographic origins, socio-economic backgrounds, personal characteristics, and interests.”
A national study conducted in 2020 found that minorities comprised only 20% of board members at private colleges or universities and only 35% at public institutions of higher learning. While that study did not address…
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