George Cooper, formerly with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, assumed the presidency of S.C. State on July 16, 2008 and was the tenth president to be at SCSU University. The SC State Board of Trustees voted to terminate Cooper's contract on June 15, 2010. John E. Smalls, senior vice president of finance, was appointed to lead the university in the interim. President Cooper was reinstated two weeks later after a change in board membership. His predecessor, Andrew Hugine, Jr., who was also dismissed and sued the university, eventually accepting $60,000 to drop his suit for defamation and breach of contract. Mr. Hugine, now president of Alabama A&M University sought $1-million from South Carolina State and $2-million from the trustees who voted to oust him.