Kennesaw State University President Sam Olens is resigning on Feb. 15, he announced in a letter Thursday to students, faculty and staff.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported last week that Olens was considering leaving the university.

The Georgia Board of Regents voted to hire Olens as president in November 2016, despite complaints raised that he had no experience as an administrator at a college and that he was the only candidate for the job. Olens is the former chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and state Attorney General.

A state report released last month found Olens ignored guidelines on how to respond to student protests concerning the national anthem. The report was done after the AJC obtained text messages that suggested Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren and state Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, pressured Olens to make changes that prevented such protests.

An updated version can be found here on MyAJC.com.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com