Leaders disappointed over exit of NAACP's Jealous

• Al Sharpton said he%27s known Jealous since he was a student leader at Columbia
• Melanie Campbell said civil rights work never ends%2C and work with Jealous will go on
• Marc Morial said he asked NAACP president to reconsider when he got the news

Civil rights leaders who've worked closely with exiting NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said Monday they regretted that he plans to leave his post by year's end and recalled moments protesting and working with him dating back to his student days at Columbia University.

Jealous told USA TODAY that he decided to resign, effective Dec. 31, to spend more time with his wife, Lia Epperson, and children Morgan, 7, and Jack, 13 months.

National Urban League President Marc Morial said Jealous called him and told him the news on Saturday, one day before it became public.

"I wish he'd change his mind. 'We need you. Rethink it,' " Morial said. "It's always tough times (in demanding roles) and sometimes you wake up and say, 'Am I doing the right thing?' "

He added, "There's no doubt that these jobs are incredibly challenging because you are a national organization and you are also visible and in high demand."

Morial, Jealous, Al Sharpton of the National Action Network and Melanie Campbell of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation had increasingly been working together to present a unified front on issues ranging from the government's response to Hurricane Katrina to jointly expressing beliefs that black Florida teen Trayvon Martin was racially profiled when neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman fatally shot him in February 2012.

Morial said the most effective project he thinks the group put together was a convening of civil rights and grass-roots leaders in Washington last year to share ideas and thoughts on what issues should be their priorities.

"I think it was historic because something of that magnitude had not been achieved in many, many decades," he said.

Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network, said he received the news of Jealous' upcoming departure with "mixed emotions." He said he has worked with Jealous since the NAACP president was a student leader at Columbia University and was arrested in protesting the fatal shooting by four NYC police officers of African immigrant Amadou Diallo, said to resemble a rape suspect.

"I am happy that he has done so well and leaves his post with no scandal, shame or physical challenges, and young enough to have a bright future," Sharpton said in a statement. "There is sadness, however, because for the last several years, he has joined Marc Morial, Melanie Campbell (of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation) and me as we tried to broaden the civil rights leadership of the 21st century movement."

Sharpton said Jealous has "operated with integrity."

"Not only was he able to revive the NAACP and raise its budget to higher heights, he joined us in the streets in real civil rights activity on the ground," Sharpton said. "From the 'suites to the streets' he will be missed as head of the NAACP but I am sure he will not leave us in his contribution to the struggle."

Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civil participation, said she's known and worked with Jealous for many year, even when he headed the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a coalition of black newspapers, from 1999 to 2001.

"Knowing how much of a family man he is, I can only respect that his decision is one that's good for him," Campbell said.

She said she expected to continue working with him, no matter what capacity. "The work continues. It's like a river. It never stops," Campbell said.

Jealous suggested to USA TODAY that the NAACP might be looking at installing its first female president. Campbell said she thought the idea is a great one. When asked, she said she had not been approached about the job.

Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a group that operates separately from the NAACP, credits Jealous with strong coalition building and voter mobilization.

"We have been particularly happy to work with Ben Jealous, who has brought energy, strategic vision and tireless advocacy to his work as the NAACP president," she said in a statement.