UAPB faces crucial decision in AD hunt

Dr. LAURENCE B. ALEXANDER
Chancellor, UAPB

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas -- Laurence Alexander should be the happiest person in the state right now.

Alexander is the chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and as the search for a new athletic director heads home, there is a lot of interest in who will be named.

Apathy is never a good thing. Interest and caring are.

Granted, Alexander and UAPB have not put out a lot of information about the search, so it is likely more people would have been interested in a decision that affects the future of the school.

These days, for whatever reason, chancellors want to control searches in areas where they have no expertise.

Alexander is a brilliant man with a strong academic background. He has a master's degree in journalism from the University of Florida, so he should know the importance of transparency; a Ph.D. in higher education from Florida State; and a law degree -- he is a licensed attorney in Louisiana -- from Tulane.

That is a powerful academic background.

But that doesn't always translate into good athletic decision-making.

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