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Group wants ASU chief's resignation

• A small group of students protest against Albany State University's president.

Susan McCord

ALBANY — Citing staff resignations and a sense of distrust, a group of 16 students and two alumni of Albany State University asked for the resignation Monday of ASU President Everette Freeman.

With each member holding protest signs with messages such as “Assaulting employees is unacceptable,” “Freeman must go,” “State of emergency,” “Low morale” and “Save ASU,” the group called a news conference Monday at ASU’s HPER Gymnasium. Freeman did not attend.

“We’re looking to save Albany State University,” said Albany dentist and ASU alum Charlie King. “We think we’ve got the wrong person in charge.”

Freeman, said graduating senior Chuncey Ward, refuses to attend student events, such as sports contests and the Miss ASU pageant, while “good people” are leaving the university.

“It’s just disappointing that our president, his support, is not there,” Ward said.

“That our president be impeached, is that what you would like to see take place?” asked Adam Alexander, an ASU graduate who now works for the university’s public relations office.

“We get an interim for every other office,” Ward responded.

The resignations include Vice President of Institutional Advancement Angela Getter, the subject of student Richard Spikes’ placard, which referenced “assaulting employees.”

“Dr. Freeman threw something and hit one of the professors here,” Spikes said.

The Thursday edition of the ASU Student Voice quotes Getter as saying Freeman “angrily threw a galley copy of the publication Aspire at me in front of two new staff members,” striking her in the arm.

Freeman later apologized and noted, “the paper stock wasn’t thick,” but Getter resigned Nov. 16, citing “a hostile work environment,” according to the article.

Also resigning April 4 were former Major Gifts Officer Danielle Blackwell and Director of Communications Sophia Glover. Glover described a “severe micromanagement problem” in her letter of resignation, according to the article.

The article’s three authors, including Student Voice Managing Editor Darin Edgecomb and O’Neil Clarke, were part of the group that protested Monday. Ward is a writer and columnist.

“The problem is that there is a lot of stuff that’s been going on behind closed doors,” said Edgecomb, handing out copies of the newspaper.

“Many students... feel the best solution is to get him out of there,” he said.

“It’s a division between him and the student body, that’s all,” Clarke said.

Freeman announced last week that ASU and the University System of Georgia each would contribute $1.1 million toward a debt on construction of the Albany Municipal Coliseum, where the ASU Rams play football. He’d previously cited the debt as a reason to increase student fees by $100 per semester, which drew many complaints from students.

“Everybody wishes Dr. Freeman would be more open,” said Danielle McKinley, a Presidential Scholar at ASU. “What are your desires for the university? No one knows.

“His removal would bring about a quicker change.”

Freeman, whom a staff member said was in his office Monday, did not respond Monday to spoken, written or e-mailed requests for comment.

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