Former Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens quietly began his new job as Kennesaw State University president Tuesday with several meetings while hundreds of students and faculty held a campus protest to force him out.
About 300 people gathered for a midday rally on the Kennesaw campus demanding the state’s Board of Regents conduct a national search for the job. Olens was the only candidate interviewed for the position.
Critics of the selection process have organized online petitions and filed a federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. Some attendees held “National Search” signs and held a moment of silence to signify the lack of input they felt they’ve had through the process.
Several protest organizers spoke Tuesday about the request for an injunction filed last week in Fulton County Superior Court to remove Olens, citing conflict-of-interest concerns. The plaintiffs argue Olens should not have been appointed because he was involved in two court cases alleging racketeering at some Georgia colleges, and they claim he tried to cover up those investigations to protect the Board of Regents. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 7.
“To have someone come in and no one have a say is totally wrong,” KSU student Michele Pierce, a junior majoring in exercise science, told the crowd.
KSU officials declined comment on the remarks protesters made Tuesday. They said Olens met with student leaders and others Tuesday. Olens said in a statement that he plans to spend the next few months on goals such as improving the graduation rate, which is currently in the low 40s.
“At the end of the day, a university is about the students,” he said. “That means making sure students can afford to attend college, assisting them so that they graduate on time and providing faculty with the tools and support they need to help our students achieve their goals.”
KSU is the state’s third-largest school, with about 35,000 students.
Olens, a former two-term chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, replaced Dan Papp. Papp retired in June after an audit found he already had received more than $577,000 in retirement pay from the university's foundation without notifying the state's University System.
About the Author
