Dear Chancellor Sonny Perdue,

On June 10, 2024, you and the University System of Georgia named Dr. Lawrence M. Drake II interim president of Albany State University, effective July 1, 2024. Shortly following this announcement, on June 13, 2024, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) named the Albany State University (ASU) Presidential Search Committee members.

Chancellor Perdue, after reflecting on the last two presidents, Art Dunning (2015-2018) and Marion Ross Fedrick (2018-2024), we notice an ambiguous and disconcerting presidential selection process that is distinctive, in an unfavorable sense, to Albany State University: These presidents were selected as interim presidents and were later named permanent presidents of our venerable university. Given this developing undesirable pattern, we hope that the current process is not mere metaphorical smoke and mirrors, resulting in the same predetermined results of the last two presidential selections, where the interim president became the permanent president, foreclosing on an authentic possibility for more eminently qualified and experienced candidates to be considered and selected to serve. 

Therefore, we desire this missive to function as a formal request that our next president be rigorously selected through the national search committee and that the current interim president, Dr. Lawrence M. Drake II, not be considered for the position. 

We expect the national search committee and Board of Regents to identify an eminently qualified, sought-after, donor-centered, faculty-experienced leader to steward our revered university. Unfortunately, during the past two presidential selections, we have not been able to benefit from the honest fruits of a national search committee, which is the vehicle necessary to yield a president an overwhelming majority of the students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and community can be genuinely proud to see in the position. After carefully assessing Dr. Lawrence M. Drake II’s curriculum vitae, it does not generate the type of broad support of the previously mentioned stakeholders at this critical juncture in our university’s evolution.

While Dr. Lawrence M. Drake has served in various roles, his term as interim president (2022-2023) at Bethune-Cookman University (Daytona Beach, Florida) highlights his lack of quality leadership experience in higher education. His unsteady leadership and questionable character resulted in deleterious media attention.

Also, his poor response to the October 19, 2024, on-campus shooting at Albany State University lacked the vigor, resolve, and comprehensiveness to meet this crucial matter and moment. WALB News 10 reported on October 21, 2024, a troubling campus safety concern: “Students say that they haven’t seen any security changes on campus since the shooting happened.” At the time of the report, the perpetrators had not been identified or captured. His inadequate response is not indicative of a response one can expect from a seasoned higher education executive leader or president. 

On June 10, 2024, the current students at Albany State University started a petition calling for Dr. Lawrence M. Drake II not to be the interim president, given his abysmal track record at Bethune-Cookman University.

After reviewing the Board of Regents Policy Manual (2.2 Selection of Presidents for USG Institutions), we acknowledge that the authority to name one or more finalists for an institution’s president rests exclusively with the Board of Regents. However, we want to be granted the opportunity to benefit sincerely from a national search committee like other USG institutions. 

Chancellor Perdue, as devoted alumni invested in the continued success of our alma mater, we have a question for you to answer: Will you and the Chair of the Board of Regents ensure that Dr. Lawrence M. Drake II is not granted an opportunity to be the next president of Albany State University? 

We eagerly await your response and are excited about maintaining Albany State University as a world-class university and Southwest Georgia’s premier institution of higher education.

Sincerely,

Concerned Alumni & Supporters