Kurt Schmoke has resigned from the Baltimore City Community College board of trustees.

Schmoke, who served as chair of the board for eight years, made headlines last month when he proposed consolidating the city’s two-year community college into the University of Baltimore, where he is president.

In an interview with The Banner announcing the plan, Schmoke acknowledged a potential conflict of interest — he was both president of the university and chair of the community college’s board.

“Some people have said that it may pose a conflict of interest, that it may look like I’m pressuring BCCC to do something,” Schmoke said last month. “The ethics commission might say that I should step down.”

The community college’s president, Debra McCurdy, has remained silent about the potential consolidation. She attended Wednesday’s board meeting but did not speak about Schmoke’s resignation or his proposed merger.

During Wednesday’s board meeting, Laura Pope, the community college’s faculty union chair, said that “undeniably the best interest of BCCC could not be objectively considered” with Schmoke serving as president of the University of Baltimore and chair of the community college’s board.

Soon after Schmoke unveiled his plan, Pope said that employees at BCCC were “blindsided” by the potential merger.

Both the community college and the university have struggled in recent years with enrollment declines. The University of Baltimore announced earlier this fall that it would consolidate some majors including English and history.

Schmoke said last month he hopes that BCCC will become a division of the University of Baltimore, akin to its law school and professional program.

“We could have a single institution that we could promote to our community that would offer the option of a two-year degree, a four-year degree, graduate, professional degrees, workforce/apprenticeship certificates,” he said at the time.

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