MONTGOMERY Ala.
Alabama State University President Joe Lee has announced plans to resign after a sometimes tumultuous seven years at the school’s helm.
Lee made the announcement Friday during a scheduled board of trustees meeting and caught most of the trustees, administrators and alumni off-guard when he said he will resign May 31. He did not disclose any future plans.
“I had no idea he was going to do that,” trustee Herbert Young told the Montgomery Advertiser in a story for Saturday editions. “It was a complete surprise to me.”
Trustees voted to move quickly into the search process and gave board chairman Elton Dean the authority to begin forming a search committee. Dean said he expected to start the committee within the next week.
While the trustees were moving ahead, others were still getting over the surprise of Lee’s impending departure, which puts an end to a tenure that was filled with controversy and growth.
Trustee Buford Crutcher said he was stunned. National alumni president Brenda Kahn-Spells said she had no idea Lee had resigned.
