The Indianapolis City-County Council unanimously appointed Dr. Eugene White, a former Indianapolis Public Schools superintendent and former Martin University president, to the Indianapolis Public Library Board on Monday evening.

He received a unanimous recommendation by the Council's Municipal Corporations Committee during a Feb. 8 meeting, where councilor Frank Mascari of District 21 said he was "super over-qualified" for the position.

"I know there's some serious issues on the board so I'm honored to be asked to serve," White said during the meeting.

White's appointment will likely shape board dynamics and the path forward in seeking a new CEO for the library, which still has no permanent leader. White told IndyStar he hopes to revisit the controversy over the library's CEO decision.

He joins a library board facing significant internal division and public mistrust.

Community outcry ensued in December after a divided board offered the job of library CEO to Gabriel Morley, a white man from Louisiana, rather than then-interim library CEO Nichelle Hayes, a Black woman with deep roots in Indianapolis and significant community support.

After Morley declined the offer, the board decided to restart the search process rather than appointing Hayes, the only remaining finalist.

More:Inside the Indianapolis library board's CEO decision, which left them without a CEO

The City-County Council took a rare step of intervention and asked the board to appoint Hayes as CEO. The board majority declined.

Before White's appointment, the board was evenly split between three trustees who supported appointing Hayes for CEO and three who did not. White replaces Dr. TD Robinson, who did not support Hayes for CEO and resigned amid public opposition in January.

White told IndyStar that his first priorities will involve asking questions about what happened during the CEO search, why Hayes was not offered the CEO position, and why, after Morley declined, she still was rebuffed. White said that from what he knows, he believed their explanation to be "weak."

"I know that situation with looking for the new CEO split the community, split the staff, and just turned out to be a mess," White said. "That seems to be a preponderance of tough decisions going wrong and hopefully we can revisit that."

White further told IndyStar that historical institutional racism is so entrenched in the country "that one almost has to start with the assumption that it exists, and work forward."

The library has been accused of institutional racism before, accusations dating back to the summer of 2021, when library workers demanded the resignation of then-CEO Jackie Nytes. She denied the claims and resigned in August that year.

The continued refusal of the majority of the board to appoint Hayes as CEO deepened the accusations that the board was guilty of the systemic overlooking of qualified Black women for positions of leadership in the city.

White has long stewardship serving in educational roles

White is a former IPS superintendent. He served in the role for nearly eight years until his retirement in 2013. Previously, White served as superintendent of Washington Township Schools and principal of North Central High School.

Several months after leaving IPS, White was appointed interim president of Martin University, a predominantly Black private university in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood. He then served in the role in a permanent capacity for over five years before officially retiring in June 2019.

White is widely credited with lifting Martin University out of financial probation from its accrediting agency during his term as president.

The next public meeting of the library board is on Mar 27.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis Public Library Board: Eugene White appointed by Council