A once full and decorated office stood bare as an older gentleman cleared his desk, cabinets, and bookshelves.

He carefully boxed and stored the awards won from years past. He organized and sorted the papers and documents still atop his desk. He took the time to turn over, pass on his responsibilities, and usher in the man who would act in his place in the days to come.

At the end of the week, this man would likely finish clearing and carrying away his belongings, pass on university documents and records to the appropriate parties, and ensure the office space was bare. He would probably turn off the lights one last time and walk away.

Sidney Evans, executive vice president of finance and administration at Morgan State University, is scheduled to end his nearly nine years of service with the closure of the Spring 2023 semester. 

He has planned to continue his career by stepping into the position of senior vice president and chief financial officer of the National Urban League in New York City.

“I’ll be doing what I have been doing all my life, which is being a competent thought partner for the chief executive officer and to safeguard the assets of the National Urban League – which is what I’ve done at Morgan State,” Evans said.

According to Morgan’s website, the division of finance and administration’s purpose is to function as an effective conduit for planning, securing, and spending necessary operating and capital resources to achieve the wider mission and strategic plan of the university. Evans, as Morgan’s executive VP of finance and administration, said he was responsible for three major assets: financial, human, and physical.

His task was to “safeguard all those assets” and said he did so by managing a number of departments: campus safety; information and technology; health and the environment; university budget; procurement; bursar; auxiliary services (i.e.: dining hall, bookstore, parking, shuttle buses, etc.); new buildings and facilities; human resources; and accounting operations.

“My job [was] to safeguard all those assets,” Evans said. “It starts with a great team. I have the best team in higher education.”

Evans often worked hand-in-hand with Morgan State President David Wilson, Morgan’s Board of Regents, and Maryland’s Board of Public Works. In his nearly nine years, Evans and his team presented more than 100 projects before Maryland’s BPW – which consists of the governor, the state treasurer, and the comptroller – and BPW approved all of them.

“Nothing happens overnight. I had never worked in a public, government environment. That was the biggest challenge for me: learning to operate in a very structured, bureaucratic environment. President Wilson was supportive in terms of coaching me [and] guiding me through this environment,” Evans said.

Evans described all of the facets that came together to ensure Morgan’s continued growth and success: he assembled a competent and able team that planned exhaustively. Wilson acted as both his mentor and his superior, the Board of Regents supported all of his efforts, and Maryland gave Morgan “tremendous, incredible financial support” as a public university.

“Those are the five things that not only [enabled] me to do my job, but … to do my job at a very high level,” he said.

According to Evans, he and his team have accomplished many quantifiable benchmarks.

These include the establishment of  Northwood Commons, a new shopping area adjacent to Morgan’s campus, along with improving Morgan’s credit rating to be one of the highest among HBCUs in 2022.

They successfully executed more than $600 million in capital projects, built the newest on-campus student housing building in 31 years, and secured a SodexoMagic contract for Morgan’s dining facilities along with completing a new dining hall.

“It’s just been an incredible ride. Enrollment is at an all time high, the number of new buildings, new dormitories, financial position, applications, support from the state of Maryland, and just the Morgan brand … we’re in a pretty good position,” Evans said. “I wanted to just do these great things for Morgan because the Morgan family loved the institution so much that I wanted to make a difference … make a contribution. That was my inspiration: to do great things for all the Morganites who love this institution so dearly.”