NAACP LOSING DIRECTOR HOOKS TO RETIRE; ORGANIZATION DIVIDED OVER LIMITING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 16, 1992                   TAG: 9202160122
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short
NAACP LOSING DIRECTOR HOOKS TO RETIRE; ORGANIZATION DIVIDED OVER LIMITING
Benjamin Hooks Jr. said Saturday that he would resign as executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the leadership of the nation's oldest civil rights organization broke ranks publicly in an angry debate over limiting the terms of its officers.
The 67-year-old Hooks, who has led the NAACP since 1977, announced his resignation late Saturday afternoon in a closed session of the board near the end of a turbulent annual meeting in New York.
In a statement, he said this would be his last year as executive director. He gave no reason for the decision, which took top officers by surprise.
He has not been publicly involved in the dispute over term limits, which would not have affected him because he is a staff member, not an officer.
In an interview Saturday evening, he said he had been contemplating retirement for some time, and he deflected questions about the issue of term limits.
Earlier in the day, the NAACP's national president, Hazel Dukes, and some prominent board members were denied re-election over the issue of term limits, which they had supported.
Another longtime board member, Percy Sutton, resigned Saturday. Like Hooks, he would not give a reason.
It was the first time in a decade that incumbents were not re-elected to the board.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB