On November 21 InsiderAdvantage was the first Georgia news outlet to report that Kennesaw State University President Sam Olens was in serious trouble with the University System chancellor and Board of Regents. It was serious enough, we wrote, to lead to his termination. Yesterday, Olens announced he is leaving the university having “decided that new leadership will be required for KSU to fully realize its potential.”
KSU Provost Ken Harmon will serve as interim president and there will be a national search for the next president.
The troubles began for Olens — on the job for just a year — when he didn’t fully address myriad management problems inherited from President Dan Papp, whose contract was not renewed by the Regents. They escalated after a Sept. 30 KSU game when some cheerleaders kneeled during the national anthem.
A report by a Regents’ legal team said Olens did not initiate the decision to have the cheerleaders remain in the locker room during the anthem for future games. But it concluded that Olens fumbled the situation and disobeyed a direct order from the chancellor and Regents that any kneeling situation at any university should be reported immediately by a president to them. (The Regents’ attorney also advised that the kneeling should be allowed.)
Olens, the report said, failed to follow proper procedure in alerting the University System about the Sept. 30 incident and what would happen next. In fact, University System officials were embarrassed to hear about the unfolding KSU/Olens controversy from media reports.
The former attorney general is now looking to land a job at an Atlanta law firm.
