The president of the Southern Poverty Law Center announced on Friday that he’ll be stepping down, just a week after the co-founder of the civil rights group was ousted for alleged misconduct, according to reports.

Richard Cohen, who has headed the center since 2003, announced in a statement on Friday that a board-led search was underway to find his successor “in order to give the organization the best chance to heal.”

Cohen also took responsibility for the center’s recent misgivings, including internal complaints about racial disparity within the organization’s ranks, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them,” Cohen said in the statement.

Last week Morris Dees, the co-founder of Southern Poverty Law Center, was abruptly axed.

On Thursday a senior member of the group’s legal team stepped down.

Internal emails obtained by the Los Angeles Times lauded Dees’ contributions to the $450-million nonprofit but hinted at “inappropriate conduct” as a reason for his firing.

The Southern Poverty Law Center directed former White House official Tina Tchen to undergo an audit of the organization, which Cohen said would enable the group to “emerge stronger.”

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