ATLANTA – University of West Georgia (UWG) President Brendan Kelly is leaving later this year for a new job as president of the Arkansas State University System.
Kelly began his tenure at UWG in March 2020 as the COVID pandemic was taking hold. During his time there, the university has broken records in student retention, fundraising, and degrees conferred.
West Georgia also elevated its athletic program to NCAA Division I on Kelly’s watch and established two new colleges and one new school.
“Serving as president of the University of West Georgia is one of the greatest privileges of my life and represents some of the best work we can achieve in higher education,” Kelly said in a statement he shared with the university’s faculty and staff last week.
“We have spent our time at this institution trying to plant seeds, knowing that others would enjoy the shade of the mature trees.”
Kelly’s start date in Arkansas has not been announced, but it will be no later than Oct. 1. An interim president for UWG has not been named.
ATLANTA – University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue has named a former interim president at a historically Black university in Florida to serve as interim president at Albany State University.
Lawrence Drake II will succeed current Albany State President Marion Ross Fedrick on July 1, when she leaves to become executive vice president and chief of staff to the president of Georgia State University.
Drake is currently president and CEO of the Atlanta-based educational outreach organization LEADing for Life. He previously served as interim president at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Prior to joining academia, Drake worked at Coca-Cola for 21 years, where he served in several executive roles, including division president for Coca-Cola Africa.
“Dr. Drake has over 40 years of leadership experience, and his most recent work with both Bethune-Cookman and LEADing for Life demonstrates his strong commitment to student success in higher education,” Perdue said. “We are grateful for his commitment to build on Marion’s legacy in the interim as we undertake a national search for Albany State’s next president.”
“With my passion for expanding access to learning opportunities and helping individuals acquire 21st-century skills, I am honored to have this opportunity to work with Albany State’s faculty, staff and students in a time of positive transition,” Drake added.
“There’s so much momentum thanks to the work of President Fedrick, and I’m looking forward to doing my part for the legacy of the largest public HBCU (Historically Black College and University) in Georgia.”
A first-generation college graduate, Drake holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Georgia State and a second bachelor’s in elective studies from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. He earned a master’s degree from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., and a master’s and doctorate – both in psychology – from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Fedrick joined Albany State in 2017 and became the university’s 10th president a year later.
Gov. Brian Kemp (center) with officials from Hyundai Motor Group at the 2022 groundbreaking of the Korean automaker’s electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Bryan County.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp are leading a trade mission to the Republic of Korea.
Georgia’s first couple is leaving Tuesday and returning next week at the head of a delegation that includes several state legislators and representatives of the state Department of Economic Development, Georgia Environmental Protection Division, and the Georgia Ports Authority.
Rather than drumming up new business, the trip will focus on strengthening existing relationships.
“The Republic of Korea was the very first country I visited when I became governor for a good reason – because of the incredible partners located there,” Kemp said. “Marty and I are glad to return so that we can reinforce those great friendships that are bringing historic investments and jobs to communities all across the state.”
The delegation will meet with executives from industries now operating in Georgia or building new facilities in the Peach State. The list includes Hyundai Motor Group, Kia, CJ Foodville, LG Group, SK Group and Hanwha Qcells.
As that roster indicates, many of the companies hosting the Georgia group are involved in the state’s rapidly growing electric vehicles industry.
“Connectivity leads to business, and relationships build the foundations of mutual progress,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Meeting with the leadership of existing industries at their headquarters provides a unique opportunity to learn more about their perspective on an industry and where it is headed.
“Keeping the lines of communication open, we can stay ahead of the curve in industry shifts, positioning Georgia at the forefront of new opportunities.”
ATLANTA – Three Republicans from Georgia’s congressional delegation got a first-hand look Monday at what’s being done to improve mail processing at the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) regional center in Palmetto.
U.S. Reps. Mike Collins of Jackson, Austin Scott of Tifton, and Andrew Clyde of Athens toured the facility less than two weeks after U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., made a similar visit.
Ossoff is a member of a Senate committee that questioned Postmaster General Louis DeJoy at a hearing in April about delays in mail processing at the center that began last winter after the launching of a restructuring program aimed at making the postal service financially self-sufficient. The program was rolled out first at the Palmetto facility and at a mail processing center in Richmond, Va.
During the hearing, Ossoff cited statistics showing that only 36% of the first-class mail processed at the facility was being delivered on time.
After visiting the Palmetto center on May 30, Ossoff said on-time mail delivery has improved to about 60%.
“While metrics are moving in the right direction, improving transparency and communications between the USPS and our constituents remain top of mind,” Collins posted Monday on social media after touring the Palmetto center with Scott and Clyde. “I will be staying in touch with Postmaster General (Louis) DeJoy to ensure that the necessary steps to improve USPS issues are being taken.”
After being bombarded with complaints about service at the Palmetto regional mail processing center, DeJoy first put the nationwide restructuring initiative on hold, then announced a plan to address delays at the Georgia facility by bringing in more than 100 personnel from other centers and revising transportation schedules between the Palmetto facility and other local mail processing centers.
Like the three Republican congressmen, Ossoff has vowed to keep up the pressure on DeJoy until the problem is brought under control.
Chuck Hand (Photo courtesy of Thomasville Times Enterprise)
ATLANTA – What began as a debate between the two Republicans who made the June18 runoff in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District shortly evolved into a monologue.
After making an opening statement Sunday evening, construction superintendent Chuck Hand walked off the Georgia Public Broadcasting stage in Midtown Atlanta, leaving it to Wayne Johnson, the other Republican looking to challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, in the general election in November.
“I’m not interested in debating the issues of the 2nd District with a man who doesn’t even reside in it,” Hand said before walking out of the debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club.
Johnson, who worked in the Trump administration as head of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Student Finance, lives in Macon, which is outside the 2nd District. However, federal law does not require members of the U.S. House to live in the district they represent.
After Hand’s departure, Johnson reminded voters that Hand pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Johnson accused Hand of not being honest with the public about his activities that day.
“Mr. Hand’s depiction of his and his wife’s involvement on Jan. 6 is a far cry from what the official record shows,” Johnson said.
Johnson spent the rest of the “debate” fielding questions from two reporters and a moderator on various issues facing the federal government.
Johnson said illegal immigration in general and the nation’s policy toward asylum seekers in particular need to be brought under control. He said the Venezuelan national accused of murdering 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in February was allowed into the U.S. in 2022 as an asylum seeker.
“We have got to get control of this free-wheeling asylum policy … (and) slam the border shut,” he said.
Johnson also said he opposes a proposed $30 billion cut in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) commonly known as food stamps.
“It’s going to impact low-income families significantly,” he said. “It’s also going to impact the farmers that produce food for SNAP.”
Johnson supported eliminating federal support for student loans.
“What we need to do is stop making student loans and do defined-amount grants,” he said. “We shouldn’t burden somebody as they’re leaving school with loan obligations. We should empower them with the fact that they got an education.”
Johnson defended in vitro fertilization as a “wonderful tool for people that are struggling to have children” in a nation with a declining birth rate but argued the federal government shouldn’t pay for the procedure.
The 2nd Congressional District encompasses Southwest Georgia from Columbus and portions of Bibb County south to the Florida line.
