ASU alumni have questions about the school’s presidential search, concerns about equity

ALBANY – The presidential search for Albany State University’s next leader kicked off in June; however, alumni of the historically black university have some concerns about the process. 

Former ASU President Marion Fedrick, announced her resignation in February 2024, accepting a new position at Georgia State University beginning July 1. Lawrence Drake, the former interim president at Daytona Beach, Fla., HBCU Bethune Cookman University stepped in as ASU’s interim leader. In June, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia secured its Presidential Search Committee and announced the team would conduct a national search for the next president of ASU. 

This is the first presidential search for ASU in 20 years. Since 2013, the university has had two interim presidents fall into permanent positions. A national search was an exciting prospect for alumni.

“We feel that now is the time to give us an opportunity to have a fair and open search where there will be a leader that has the best interest of ASU, the alums, the students and the community at heart,” Sue Polite Williams, a 1998 ASU graduate and former employee, said. 

However, after six months of few updates or communication from the search committee, alumni are concerned that the pattern will once again be repeated. A group of them started a petition, which now has 617 signatures, against consideration of Drake to take on the permanent presidential position.

This group of alumni says it has nothing personal against Drake, but there are several issues they have with his would-be presidency, the first being whether Drake is qualified to take on the leadership of Georgia’s largest HBCU – one that is an economic driver in Albany. A USG press release announcing Drake’s new role as interim president touted his “over 40 years of leadership experience.” However, 21 years of that experience was at the Coca-Cola Company, including as a division president. 

Drake served two years as a dean at Bethune Cookman University and then one as interim president. That year was mired in national controversy over the hiring and then firing of a football coach, poor quality on-campus life – mold-infested dorms and broken ventilation systems – and the disbanding of the university’s alumni association. 

“So you mean to tell me that the only person you could find was Dr. Lawrence Drake?” Antonio Daniels, a 2004 ASU graduate and higher education researcher, said. “A person who was just found as unacceptable at one university, you immediately found him as the … highly-qualified individual to serve as Albany State University’s interim president?”

The alumni also pointed out the interim president’s failure to make significant safety changes after a shooting killed one and injured four others during ASU’s homecoming celebrations in October. 

Drake released a video statement. Jones said he’s heard from confused ASU students who haven’t seen any changes to campus safety. 

“No security concerns have been addressed by the university,” Jones said. 

In comparison, Jones pointed to the University of Georgia, which after the on-campus murder of student Laken Riley last February shelled out $7.3 million to enhance security on campus.

“We don’t think that $7.3 million dollars (is realistic) … because Albany State doesn’t have anywhere near as large a campus, but they went immediately into addressing security and making this public,” he said. “ASU is in the same university system, is publicly funded by the state of Georgia, and we still haven’t heard anything and neither have students or any other stakeholders.”

The third issue the alumni presented is that Drake’s appointment as interim president and if he were to become president would be the “manifestation of deep systemic inequities” within the USG. 

Daniels called it “curious” treatment that the USG gives to ASU. 

“I find that there is a racial bias that is running through the way in which historically black colleges and universities are treated in terms of how they are funded and also the leadership that is chosen for them,” he said. “This presidential search is not comparable to its predominantly white peers in the USG.”

The alumni group pointed to presidents and interim presidents who had been appointed to other schools in the USG in the last two years: the College of Coastal Georgia, Augusta University and the University of West Georgia. 

“All of these people had years of higher education experience,” Jones said. “We just want equitable treatment and a qualified person to lead the university.”

Polite-Williams said press releases from these searches also showed more community-involved members on the search committees whereas Albany State’s committee has only a few with direct relations.

The Albany Herald reached out to ASU with an interview request for Drake. This request was directed to the USG. The newspaper reached out to the USG for an interview regarding the search or with search committee members and did not receive a response in time for publication. The Herald also reached out to the committee’s chair and Regent Barbara Rivera Holmes, who is CEO and president of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as committee member state Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, regarding the search.

The Herald did not receive a response from Holmes in time for publication. Powell Sims said she had no comment about ASU’s presidential search. 

Daniels said the USG’s Board of Regents is composed mostly of white people. 

“There is only one African-American on the Board of Regents,” Daniels said. “You have a body that is not diverse that is choosing for … a historically black college and university.”

He said he feels the leadership is being chosen for the ASU community rather than by it. 

Since announcing the presidential search, there has been one public stakeholder event. AGB Search, the company conducting the national search, held three listening sessions, inviting students, faculty, staff, community members and alumni to attend. 

This concerned alumni group requested a meeting to discuss the presidential search with USG and Chancellor Sonny Perdue. The group was asked to send over their concerns but never received a response for its meeting request. 

Daniels said the lack of transparency creates an atmosphere of mistrust. 

“How do we really know that a national search is going on, and you don’t already have your predetermined individuals such as Dr. Lawrence Drake already in place?” he said. 

The Rev. Keith Hammond, an ASU alumnus, said he hopes these concerns push Perdue to re-focus and re-address how the search process goes and how the USG treats HBCUs across the state.

“We’re not stepchildren, we’re not an afterthought, we’re not a nuisance,” he said. “We’re a valuable part of this country and this state.”

Jones said he believes city and county officials also should be pushing to have their concerns met – that the greater community should be sounding alarms as far as transparency. 

“The city of Albany is everybody in southwest Georgia’s business,” he said. “Without a successful Albany and Dougherty County, of which Albany State is probably the most integral part of, the entire region cannot be successful.”