Dickinson State President Resigns Post

Steve Easton has announced his resignation as president of Dickinson State University in North Dakota. His departure follows a contention tenure with members of the university’s faculty and administration.

Steve EastonEaston wrote to Dickinson State students in a missive explaining his departure, saying: “Though I will not be there in person to cheer you on, please know that I will be supporting you from a distance, thinking, as I always do when you wonderful students do such remarkable things: Hawks are up.”

On July 12, the North Dakota Board of Nursing issued a notice to Dickinson State of multiple nursing program shortcomings for review at its July 25 board meeting due to the lack of faculty — which resulted from a mass resignation by the university’s nursing administrator and professors earlier in July. Easton maintains that the North Dakota Board of Nursing prohibited him and the other administrators from trying to find new faculty members for the university’s nursing students.

Easton plans to remain at Dickinson State through the leadership transition process.

“President Easton and his leadership team have done transformative work building a dual mission campus, one of the most innovative not only in North Dakota but in the Northern Plains/Mountain Region,” said North Dakota University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott. “Moreover, over two tumultuous years of COVID-disrupted budgets and campus operations, his team’s response under pressure has been both innovative and of the highest integrity.”