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The Paine Project
Protecting the Integrity & Prosperity of Paine College
Protecting the Integrity & Prosperity of Paine College
Home » The Bradley File » Integrity Issues
President Bradley has formed a close association with CME Bishop Kenneth Wayne Carter. Since the College was founded by a partnership of the CME church and the United Methodist Church, both organizations have authority to appoint an equal number of members to the college’s Board of Trustees under the college’s charter. By charter, the state bishop of each church organization is automatically a member of the Board. Bishop Kenneth Wayne Carter is the CME bishop for the State of Georgia. He is therefore an automatic member of the Paine College Board of Trustees. More importantly, he is also by tradition the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The Paine Project 
Great Work. What is done in the dark will definitely come to the light. The first time I met Dr. Bradley with my fellow Student Government Association members in 2008 to discuss issues about the direction the college after he took office, he recanted to us a story from a book he was reading about a master who when he commanded for all of his warriors to turn, would cut off the head of anyone who didn’t turn the way the master had commanded. With that being said, I hope this group talks to some of the students that were there in leadership positions so that they can really crack the “Bradley Files.” Looks about like it’s time for some heads to roll.
It is amazing as to what lengths one will go in an attempt to hide the truth, but what is even more amazing is how impossible it is to actually do it! The time is now. Unite and bring light to the darkness. Let the truth set us free! PC One Time!
That’s right netta, something has to be do!!
I feel that there should be new leadership in the administration, since my daughter has attended Paine College it has been nothing but turmoil in the administration. We are new to the Augusta area never even heard about Paine College, until my daughter applied. I was so excited for her being accepted into an all black historical college. I told all my friends about Paine. Now I’m embarrassed to even mention she attends Paine College. I feel that she should transfer out but she always finds the good in things and is praying for a change. I feel that Paine is very unfair and unfortunately the people who had Paine College are just totally crooks. They are not trust worthy and they are stealing from the students. The interest of the college students is not the interest of those in higher up status. That’s why I feel they should all be fired and bring in a truly trust worthy staff that has the students and the colleges best interest. It’s time for a change and the change is now. Let’s get rid of Bradley and his entire staff now. Let’s bring in honest leaders because Bradley is not a leader, it’s about money to him. To me it’s about Education for those who want a career in their field. I’m a concerned parent and I have no problem voicing my opinion. What Is Right Is Right But Whats Wrong is wrong. Let’s start 2014-2015 doing what’s right.
Must I say, I strongly agree with Ms.Rita!Need I say, my daughter began to search for colleges the beginning of her senior year, which I was more happier than she was. As we discussed her plans including long time and short time goals she mentioned that her search criteria for colleges were that they “HAD TO BE HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES!” So I’m thinking as a parent GREAT! Fine with me because had I known then what I know now, NEVER deprive anyone of their dreams! (LET US NOTE PAINE’S MOTTO “REJOICING IN HOPE”) How could there be hope to rejoice in when all hopes and dreams are getting robbed!!? My daughter has gotten acceptances into colleges such as; Benedict College, Bethune Cookman University, Tougaloo College, and Alabama A&M and it’s sad to say that those colleges check up on her, write her, inform her on next events even two months after she got accepted. Paine on the other hand? WE had to call WE had to call people here and there to ask information about things such as financial aid WE had to call and get actual dates of what events take place WE had to stay up long nights using to do research on certain things about colleges that they don’t want you to know WE had to send my daughter’s final transcript off by mail and electronically a total of 6 times but they “NEVER FOUND IT IN THEIR SYSTEM” EVERYTHING IS WE WE WE WE WE WE WE Paine did nothing!! I look at Paine totally sideways now, it hurts to know they already look at our young African American Youth as targets and statistics, but when they want to better themselves, because they’ve seen a single mother/father go through the worse trying to provide for them or trying to get themselves out of a situation, the only option you have is to destroy them? I really disapprove of my daughter going here, but sometimes you as a parent must let that child go and pray that they’ll lead themselves in the right direction, but when things such as finances get involved and lives are at risk and also reputations, WE as parents,students,alumni, and who ever else should get involved! It’s sad enough we’re losing the good HBCUs and this is what “they” want! Y’all this is serious we MUST do something! #BringTheRealStaffBack!! This can’t go on too much longer either we 1) Take a stand or 2) Watch our young black students go out and do pointless things and become homeless due to all the back pays just because they’re trying to better themselves and take care of their family or the biggest one that will soon happen if nothing gets done 3) Paine College completely shuts down!!!! Let’s all get together and prevent this from happening! As you can see I’m sooo infuriated about this situation! We can do it you all!!
I am a Paine alumni and I am very concerned about the future of my Alma Mater if they continue under the leadership (or lack thereof) of the Bradley Administration. This website provides detailed information regarding matters of concern that have transpired during Bradley’s presidency. We must urge the Board to be accountable for the negligence and the breech of integrity that has taken place. It is no secret that the institution has been placed on probation by SACS, it’s accrediting body, and it is the most severe and final sanction possible before accreditation is lost. I do not want my degree, that I worked hard to earn, to be frowned upon due to the lack of accountability and poor leadership of a man with his own agenda. Students are the consumers of higher institutes of learning and should be the focus of every President, Board Member, Faculty Member, and Senior Administration. Yet, at Paine College, the consumer is suffering as a result of the Board turning a blind eye and supporting an individual that clearly displays an apathetic disposition for those he was entrusted to serve. Bradley is the common denominator to the issues that exist and it is time for a positive change to save our dear old Paine. Thus, I challenge and urge each of you to voice your concern and support The Paine Project so that a difference can be made before it’s too late.
Juanita Burney – It was very evident that things were not right with Dr. Bradley and his wife, Tina Marshall Bradley, shortly after they arrived at Paine and it also involved money. I had been appointed by Dr. Frank Rumph to represent the Richmond County Health Department on a community project that also involved Paine College. As I performed my own investigation of some things that just didn’t seem right, and, after I was unable to get anyone at the college to take a sufficient look at my concerns, I recommended to the Health Department Director that he withdraw the Health Department from association with the project. The Health Department withdrew. I stated then that Paine College was not going to thrive under the newly appointed President. It is my intention to write in detail my experience
and forward it to the Alumni Association.
This is very sad….stakeholders do not rip down the institutions they hold dear. I am appalled at this brazen display of disrespect toward our alma mater. While the situation is serious, removing administration and pointing fingers accomplishes nothing. Very sad indeed.
Mr. Clewis, your attitude is one of the reasons that Paine is in this situation. When I attended Paine during Dr. Julius S. Scott’s administration, the school was fiscally sound, we had good faculty and staff members, and I was proud to be an alumni of Paine. During Dr. Bradley’s administration, it started down and has gone downhill every since. We are not ripping the institution, we are disgusted with the direction that the ADMINISTRATION is taking our beloved institution. If we remain silent, they will run it down into the ground and we will only be left with memories of PC. Being silent and sweeping issues under the rug is far more disrespectful than dealing with the issues and addressing them in truth.
Heart-broken. Speechless. (Class of ’69)
As a previous staff member, it was the students that kept so many of us in our positions. The low pay, the demand of the job, and ridiculous hours would drive any one away. But the love that the students showed, not only for their school, but for each other, was the reason why so many of us stayed in poor conditions. Conditions included no air conditioning, cockroaches crawling across desks, rats and other vermin crawling about, and not to mention, the dangerous conditions of the Residence Halls. So many of the students have been used and abused, their money has been used to pay for salaries or unnecessary advancements on the campus (wood floors in Haygood Holsey, yet the Residence Halls have holes in the walls?). What we fail to realize because of piss poor management of the financial records is how many students were over charged or their financial aide was used to pay for things, and they IN TURN have to pay the loan and the interest rate for items not required by them. If this was a different situation, the President, board, and any one involved would be terminated and thrown in jail. Why do we hold back on make brash decisions here at Paine? To the Board of Trustees, your annulment of the President and his wife do not harm the institution and the beauty that comes with being an HBCU. Instead, what you are doing is perpetrating a misnomer that so many people have that HBCUs are ineffectual, and offer less of an advanced curriculum as other institutions. My time at Paine was difficult, not because I didn’t love what I did or my students, but because of the consistent secrecy and continued lied perpetrated by administration.
PC x 1
Ms. Hobbs, even the most reasonable person would admit that this does absolutely nothing to help the institution. Secondly, removal of the administration you loathe does not ameliorate the problem. I do not question the seriousness of the issues, but I do question the immaturity and forum of smut this has become.
I did not attend the school while Dr. Scott was the president. I have a number of Paine publications that laud his leadership. I am a Shirley Lewis devotee. Leaders have a huge responsibility to run institutions, with the good and the bad all present. Sad to our participation in this filth.
I became aware of the Paine College issues through my niece who is currently a sophomore. I was simply astounded by the number of turnovers that have taken place under this present administration. I posted the list forwarded me under the HR section of this website.
But, even more shocking to me was the information received from a friend in the news business that a female administrator in the Office of Student Affairs was fired last fall by the College’s president (George Bradley) after complaining to the College’s HR director that she was being sexually harassed by her immediate supervisor, the Dean of Student Affairs. According to documents, this young lady’s employment was terminated by Bradley two days after filing her complaint. In addition to all of the other issues mentioned, there is also an EEOC investigation currently being conducted by senior federal officials. And, absolutely mindboggling according to news documents I’ve seen is the fact that this Dean was not even a direct employ of Paine College at the time, but was being paid as a consultant through his own personal and private company.
That this dean and George Bradley are frat brothers really speaks to the personal integrity both men have for the fraternity (Alpha Phi Alpha) they represent. Utterly shameful to find a young woman being fired for complaining about the sexual advances of her supervisor and then having the college President support, without a hearing, the individual who is the object of her complaint.
Yes, I have to agree that the entire Bradley Administration should be ousted from top to bottom. This includes all of the VP’s, deans, and that HR director who happens to be a woman, I understand. I just wonder how many other women on the George Bradley hit list were victims of similar sexual chicanery?
Being in the medical profession, I know when a cancerous tissue is ignored, it doesn’t just go away. Unfortunately, there are people who think ignoring is a form of chemo, but that is only wishful thinking. The fact that more than forty individuals have been fired, forced to resign, or just walked away is cancerous to Paine as an educational body of higher learning. The forty-plus number is what it is, I think, because people have ignored what has been happening the last six years, and what is currently happening now. And, just like cancer, when you don’t do anything about it, the disease becomes more aggressive. When administrative abuses are ignored, the administrators committing those abuses become more brazen and emboldened in their bad behavior. They think they can’t be touched. But, once you think you’re so high up that no one from below can reach you, that’s when you’re close enough to be grabbed by someone from above.
Sad to say, this fall semester at Pain College will be the last for my niece if this metaphorical cancer is ignored.
Mr. Clewis, understand your point of view. I am not trying to make this personal in any way. I do love Paine College, and have fond memories of my time there. I do not loathe Dr. Bradley; I have never met him personally. But the documentation revealed in this website and the documentation and opinions of the SACS committee tell me that serious issues need to be addressed. When situations are happening that never happened before, and they are to the detriment of the institution being served, action must be taken. They will not go away by themselves. When problems occur and the leadership is aware of or is the cause of said problems and refuses to correct them, then the leadership must be changed and held accountable for their actions. If we do nothing, we may end up like Morris Brown, with GRU and the city of Augusta buying up the property that once was Paine College. I refuse to allow that to happen. I am concerned about the future of Paine College and the students present and future; and if that means we have to look at and expose unpleasant details of wrongdoing in order to bring correction, then so be it.
Morgan, what does being a member of the same fraternity has to do with how the institution is managed? I feel that that is a low blow calling out the fraternity about the management of the institution!!!!. Take away the fraternity name and you will see that the administrators were men before they were Alphas!!.
Yes Doug, I agree with your point. My apology for that low blow. However, the point I was attempting to make is exactly what you said. That’s sometimes men forget they are men before they are frat brothers. And, the same applies to women as sorors. When a man or woman hires an administrator based on Greek affiliation, and then covers that administrator’s butt when he knows he or she is wrong, that has a direct effect on management. Wouldn’t you remotely agree?
I’ve been told more than twice that there are administrators employed at Paine College who were given their positions because of their “colors.” These individuals, unfortunately, aren’t working at Paine because of any managerial or leadership skills on a collegiate level. They are employed in key administrative positions as the shameless result of Greek-nepotism. I personally think that’s why there is so much incompetence at the Paine College administrative level. And, at other colleges around the country that are suffering similar mismanagement issues.
So Doug, I think being a member of the same fraternity does matter if the frat member hired is a total idiot when it comes to managing at an institution of higher learning. Maybe Paine College in the future should start judging resumes by the content of character and qualifications, instead of by the “colors,” if you really understand what I’m saying. And my point doesn’t apply to the many “righteous” who are Greek, but only to those few fools who know they shouldn’t be managing at a college institution, but accepted the responsibility anyway because they needed a job and had nowhere else to go at the moment it was offered as a favor of frat loyalty.
Students attending Paine should be entitled to academic excellence. Maybe, here’s another “low blow,” but it’s highly unlikely that most, if not all of the upper level administrators at Paine (President, VPs, deans) would ever be capable of finding employment in similar capacity at a Howard University or institution of similar stature. Maybe I’m wrong, but I just don’t see a Howard, Spelman, Morehouse, or even a GRU tolerating what’s revealed in this website. Those institutions would have checked the Bradley bunch years ago. Students, parents, and even aunts like myself not only expect, but demand better.
What was it Lawrence Fishburne yelled at the end of Spike Lee’s School Daze?
I’m a PC student. What Morgan says is true. There are PC administrators who shouldn’t be there. Dean Reggie in the Office of Student Affairs is US Army with no college experience. He kicked a student out of Paine because he didn’t like the way the student responded to a question. There wasn’t even a hearing. That students parents were gonna sue, but KB just decided to transfer to another college. Dean Reggie got his job only because he is an Alpha and buddies with president Bradley. And dean David Chamblee is a Q. He’s over the School of Professional Studies. He speaks no better than a third grader. His subject verb agreement is way off. Splits verbs like crazy. I’ve even overheard faculty talking about how grammatically whacked that guy is. Except at PC, these dudes couldn’t get a job working at any school without a serious hookup! And, everybody knows it.
When considering the current national questions of educational and social relevancy that historically black colleges and universities presently face, the Paine College issues are dumbfounding; with emphasis on the dumb. Here we find an HBCU president, George Bradley, who is allowed to employ his wife, Tina Marshall-Bradley, as essentially second in command (proxy provost and VP Academic Affairs). Bradley hails from South Carolina State University. South Carolina State University President Thomas J. Elzey, who draws an annual salary of around $300,000, just received a $50,000 bonus. One can realistically figure what the Bradley’s financially take home on a monthly basis by virtue of Paine College and it’s underserved students, and undercompensated faculty and staff.
Here we also find a Senior VP of Institutional Advancement (Brandon Brown) who has a mug shot plastered all over the internet as a result of a DUI arrest. What a role model for college students. Obviously, the best way to advance an institution is to advance yourself by being best friends for life with whomever signs your payroll check.
Then there’s the seventysomething so-called provost and vice president of academic affairs Samuel Sullivan who comes out of retirement at the beckoning of Bradley to do whatever he’s told by husband and wife.
And, there’s the two deans. One who is under investigation by EEOC officials for sexual harassment, and another who allegedly “talks no better than a third grader.”
And, last but not least, there’s the lawyer representing the school who is giving press statements about “futile attempts to tarnish Paine’s image.” Doesn’t this attorney know that image tarnishing would be legally actionable under rules of law covering defamation and false light? Why is the Paine College lawyer meeting the press instead of lawyering? Doesn’t the school have a communications director or publicist to fill in for Brandon Brown who used to serve in that capacity prior to his public humiliation for a DUI arrest? What an embarrassment to his news anchor wife, Kimberly Scott.
It just goes to show how sadly incompetent this entire Paine College administration happens to be. In spite of all the loyalty money can buy, facts are facts. If this is what the Paine College Board of Trustees wants to support with a vote of confidence, and this is what Paine College alumni want to endorse with business as usual approval, then rape and pillaging is the name of that game. Every student and faculty member having an ounce of integrity and dignity should transfer or go elsewhere and let the current administrative ilk continue to do what they do. Obviously all who participate in defending Bradley and his cronies have no shame.
Looking at the Paine College faculty staff directory, it is understandable why the Bradly administration has been allowed to run amok. Paine has a lot of older teachers. Older teachers who are inclined to just do enough to get by are thinking about retirement not student futures. This also holds true with senior citizen administrators. A golden age group is not going to rock the Bradly boat. They are too afraid. Get fired from Paine, if they get another job, then they really have to work. This might explain the high employment turnover at this college. Energetic individuals scare weak administrators like the Bradly’s of this world. Strong individuals are probably terminated by design or forced to leave. The current Paine College hierarchy is what you end up finding when that happens. The Paine teachers and staff who sit silently are really no better than all those labeled Bradly flunkies. Complacency makes the silent majority just as much part of the problem and never the solution.
Saw this story on ROLLING OUT.
http://rollingout.com/education/hbcu-faculty-alumni-expose-corruption-paine-college/#_
This needs to be featured on CNBC AMERICAN GREED. Definitely on 60 Minutes and 20/20. Hope somebody out there gets it to Lesley Stahl at CBS or Elizabeth Vargas-ABC. Classic institutional corruption. These people should face a grand jury, and if warranted be criminally indicted on federal charges.
Keep up the good work!
I saw the Paine college story on the below web site.
http://www.blackmediascoop.com/paine-college-president-paine-college-president-george-bradley-caught-up-in-scandal/
Immediately went to the school page and clicked on the president’s message. http://paine.edu/about/president/default.aspx
President’s Message
Greetings,
This message is to thank you for participating in the inauguration activities of the fourteenth president of Paine College. “Throughout the years Paine College has) maintained high standards for students who are committed to the ideal “to love truth and seek it above material things. Paine College emphasizes academic excellence, ethical and spiritual values, social responsibility, and personal development.”
What a hypocrite! This guy is a BIG piece of work. It is obvious those high sounding words like love of truth above material things, excellence, appreciation of heritage, integrity, fiscal responsibility, service, etc applies to everyone else but him! At least Bill Clinton didn’t get Monica pregnant!
Why is this man still this college’s president when his own words stand in judgment against him. Matthew 12:37: “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
The fact that this man is representing the CME church as their choice for a college president speaks volumes about the moral values of the CME church leadership. Why are the school’s faculty and students supporting this character?
http://paine.edu/about/president/default.aspx
1.2.3 Core Values
Excellence
Appreciation of Heritage
Integrity
Fiscal Responsibility
Service
This would be funny if it wasn’t so serious regarding the image and integrity of HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. This man’s existence in his current employment position is an indictment on HBCU’S and the CME Church!!! What an embarrassment if Paine College makes 60-MINUTES.
Since the authors of “The Paine Project” wish to maintain anonymity, so do I. Since I am a current member of the Paine College untenured faculty, my reasons for doing so should be obvious.
The academic program at Paine College compared to other benchmark colleges and universities is disgraceful. There is a dual school system that boasts a School of Arts and Sciences and a School of Professional Studies. The Arts and Sciences division has functioned without a dean for an entire academic year, and is approaching a new season of our discontent with the position still unfilled by Paine College faculty input on any new or prospective appointments.
Yes, Dr. George Bradley’s wife, Tina Marshall-Bradley occupied the School’s deanship this previous academic year. But, she also held the position Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, not to mention her various college committee memberships.
The School of Arts and Sciences has three departments with only 17 faculty members. The division of Arts and Sciences is being allowed to languish. Instead of President Bradley mandating a national search for replacement of the former Arts and Science’s dean whose resignation he orchestrated, he appointed his wife. The School of Arts and Sciences houses over half of the 800 plus students that attend Paine College.
The School of Professional Studies has three departments. Those departments are Business, Media Studies, and Education. The Business and Media departments have the highest number of student majors of all departments at Paine College. The Department of Business only has six faculty members and the Department of Media Studies only has two. Neither of the two media faculty members have doctorate degrees. And, only one even has a master’s degree.
Dr. David Chamblee is the dean of the School of Professional Studies. Yes, Dr. Chamblee has speech pathology issues. But, even more disconcerting is his leadership abilities. Drawn from Chamblee’s online resume, he has no credible collegiate experiences that qualify his appointment to lead a collegiate faculty that is academically accomplished. Chamblee just showed up out of the blue two years ago and was announced as the new dean for the School of Professional Studies. Over the two years marking Chamblee’s deanship, this division has also been allowed to languish with no discernible growth that may be directly attributed to his existence, but any growth at all rather to the efforts of the School’s department chairs, and their individual faculty.
The School of Professional Studies offers radio production classes without radio or audio equipment. The School offers television production classes without television production equipment. And, the School under Chamblee’s purview offers drama and theatre courses without any theatrical stage or theater production equipment. Students taking these media classes are being academically cheated as a result of do-nothing leadership.
Clearly, Dr. George Bradley has not defined the role of a Paine College dean other than one of being a micro-manager, or overseer who is directed to report directly to him.
But, more blameworthy than the absence of qualified deans is the absence of an energetic chief academic officer. As Paine College faculty, we had great expectations upon the announcement of Dr. Samuel Sullivan as Vice President of Academic Affairs. Given his former association with Augusta State University, we assumed his presence would be a boost od adrenalin. Unfortunately, Sam came out of retirement to Paine College seemingly like he must have just been taken off of life-support himself. In the year, going on two, Dr. Samuel Sullivan has been at Paine College, he has shown himself to be just another Bradley lackey. And, that’s not “lackey” in the pejorative sense, but lackey as it applies to lacking any substantive ability to be a leader as opposed to being a taker or drawer of a comfortable salary.
Paine College, it’s faculty and students require better than what’s being offered by this current administration. It’s time for a complete overhaul if this college doesn’t want to see a mass exodus of students to way more academically capable institutions of higher learning.
Please tell us how you want help to rid Paine of the misfits. Enough talk; it is time for action!!!
Roger McLean is now listed on the Paine College website as the “Internal Auditor.” Over the last two years he was listed as Paine College’s Vice President for Fiscal and Financial Affairs. During those two years, he only showed up for work at Paine College in his employment capacity as Vice President for Fiscal and Financial Affairs two days out of the week. Those working at Paine College who silently complained about Roger McLean being unavailable to take care of Paine College business only two days a week didn’t know Roger had a lot of practice taking care of business only two days a week. Just like corrupt politicians have bagmen, so do corrupt college presidents.
Read what the Jacksonville Times-Union has to say about Roger McLean, Paine College’s once-upon-a-time Vice President for Fiscal and Financial Affairs, who is now the college’s “Internal Auditor.”
Published Saturday, November 5, 2005
Edward Waters pays VP $8,500 a month for 2.5 days a week
By BETH KORMANIK
The Times-Union,
Earlier this week, in a protest over the ineptitude of the leadership at Edward Waters College, one demonstrator carried a sign that read, “VP paid 8.5 K for working 2.5 days.”
The sign referred to Roger McLean, a North Carolina consultant who serves as interim vice president for business and finance at the Jacksonville private college. The college pays him $8,500 a month but only requires him to be on campus only 2 1/2 days a week.
McLean is longtime friend of former Edward Waters President Jimmy Jenkins and commutes to Jacksonville from Elizabeth City, N.C., on behalf of his financial services firm, R.A. McLean & Associates.
Edwards Waters College CFO History
Roger McLean took over as interim vice president for business and finance in March following the resignation of Dan Anekwu. Here are related links about when McLean took over and when Anekwu left the college.
String of jobs paralleled trail of accusations (9/12/05)
Ex-EWC administrator, Anekwu, pleads guilty (6/1/05)
Waters College leaders, Jenkins and McLean, share past (3/21/05)
Anekwu accused of fraud (3/5/05)
His monthly stipend includes $3,000 for travel and lodging expenses, according to a copy of his contract obtained by the Times-Union. He is under contract through the end of this year.
McLean did not respond to numerous phone messages left at his campus office or in North Carolina. Edward Waters President Oswald Bronson also did not respond to interview requests for this story.
Members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference targeted McLean and other members of the Edward Waters administration during a protest this week. The protesters voiced displeasure over the administration’s handling of a plagiarism scandal that briefly cost the school its accreditation and raised other issues, including McLean’s employment at the school.
McLean took the job in March following the resignation of Dan Anekwu, who was recently sentenced to prison for conspiring to defraud the federal government out of $400,000 by passing off acquaintances as black farmers entitled to part of a discrimination settlement.
McLean’s connection to Edward Waters and his relationship with former college leaders stretches back more than a decade.
McLean worked with Anekwu and Jenkins at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina in the mid-1990s. Jenkins served as chancellor there from 1983 to 1995, McLean worked there in numerous capacities from 1974 to 1996, including as vice chancellor for business and finance and manager of campus police.
Jenkins resigned as chancellor after several embarrassments during his tenure, including the discovery of 10 university-owned television sets at his home. The school was plagued with financial difficulties, and auditors uncovered several questionable practices.
His replacement stripped McLean of his duties as manager of the campus police department after news stories revealed McLean abused his power.
McLean used the police force as a “virtual power base,” according to the Daily Advance of Elizabeth City. The paper reported he ordered officers to stop writing tickets for 30 days after his wife received a parking ticket.
McLean resigned in March 1996.
When Jenkins became president of Edward Waters later that year, he hired McLean as vice president for business and finance. The college was struggling financially because of low enrollment and mounting debts. There was not enough money to pay employees regularly, and the school owed $4 million to more than 700 vendors. In addition, the college couldn’t account for another $4.5 million provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
The school righted itself financially, and McLean eventually left Jacksonville.
He worked for Saint Augustine College in Raleigh, N.C., from June 2002 to July 2004. McLean formed his own financial services firm in September 2003, according to records filed with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Office.
Jenkins resigned as president in February amid the accreditation scandal at Edward Waters. McLean returned to the school in March, and his contract was extended in early September.
beth.kormanikjacksonville.com, 359-4619
Really want to make a clean change at Paine College? Here is your dirty laundry list:
George Bradley, President
Roger McLean, Internal Auditor
Brandon Brown, Senior Vice President Institutional Advancement
Walter Howard, Special Assistant to the President
Samuel Sullivan, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs
David Chamblee, Dean, School of Professional Studies
Reginald Beatty, Dean, Office of Student Affairs
Tina Marshal-Bradley, “Anything George Wants Her to Do”
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110505/met_20217185.shtml
Roger McLean reputation precedes him obviously. He has a reputation of trying to bully or coerce auditors, not paying bills that include tearing up vendor invoices and then declaring that expenses have been reduced, and doing whatever is asked of him with no regard to integrity or truth. He was the Vice President of Finance for Paine College when SACS put Paine on warning status. Somehow, he weathers the storm and Presidents protect him and keep paying him. It must be nice to show up for a few days and receive an $8,500 monthly payment. The Paine College staff does not think highly of him because the unpaid vendors call and come in constantly while Roger McLean is nowhere to be found. The unpaid vendors and the Paine College staff are stressed out by his decisions, but Dr. Bradley keeps paying him. He is probably doing what Dr. Bradley told him. Rather than Dr. Bradley being blamed directly, he can blame Roger McLean. It is amazing that he is able to making a good living with very little effort.
HEADLINES: PAINE COACH ARRESTED ON DRUG CHARGE
Dateline: September 5, 2014
And the hits will keep on coming when a “thug,” not a drug culture is promoted by this current Paine College administration under the watch of George C. Bradley.
Perhaps this institution of now “lower” learning is getting exactly what it deserves, a continuation of bad press that is the direct result of a Board of Trustees that has crawled comfortably into the “butt pocket” of George C. Bradley.
Certainly, there’s truth in the old adage that a fruit never falls far from its tree. When Paine College’s second-in-command Senior Vice President and Director of Institutional Advancement Brandon P. Brown was busted for DUI, why wouldn’t it be par-for-the-course to find it simply routine for a “lowly” track and field coach to be busted for possession of pot?
When men of apparent integrity like Paine’s former athletic director Tim Duncan, and Paine’s former head golf coach Herman Belton, and Paine’s former women’s head track and field coach, Olympic gold medalist Latasha Clark, exit the institution after being fed up with George C. Bradley and his administrative appointment of cronies, is it really any surprise that “What You See, is What You Get.” Yes, the R&B Dramatics, couldn’t sing it any better. Paine is full of drama and it will continue to be, to the embarrassment of students, staff, and faculty who can’t get off this Augusta Titanic that’s being steered down an educational toilet bowl.
Maybe it’s poetic “twisted” justice that Bradley’s middle initial is “C” and Brown’s is “P.” Obviously, Silas Norman, and his Board of Trustee’s enjoy keeping PC on CP time.
“Some people are made of plastic
And you know some people are made of wood
Some people have hearts of stone
Some people are up to no good”
“You know some people
Are made of lies to bring you down
And shame your name”
Those Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get lyrics by the old school Dramatics are so true when it comes to the current state of affairs at new school Paine College!
Bradley and his entire administration have been “up to no good” from day one. His existence as Paine College president 14, along with his entire staff of senior administrators continues to “shame the name” of Paine College. Why are they still being allowed to hang around?
If Paine College had an enrollment of students that wasn’t predominantly African-American, Bradley and his entire group would have been run out of Augusta, GA years ago!
One thing for sure, thanks to this website, George C. Bradley will never be hired to be another college president.
Betcha him and all his pals are done once they are finally removed from PC.
The Paine College “drama” surrounding George Bradley and his administration is a text book example of inverse institutional racism. Of course, there is the political argument that Black people do not possess the institutional power necessary to commit racism which is the systematic oppression and individual actions that uphold power + privilege systems. But, when there are private institutions such as Paine College wherein power and privilege have been vested in Black administrators, that particular Black leadership does possess the power necessary to systematically commit institutionally racist acts.
When a Caucasian police officer killed an unarmed Black man with raised hands in Ferguson, Missouri, a justice probe was launched. Let’s multiply those raised hands by symbolically placing them in a Paine College classroom.
How many “unarmed” black men and women stand on the threshold of being systematically killed by the documented abuses attributed to the George Bradley administration as revealed on the pages of this website? Are the raised hands of 800 students who are the victims of black-on-black crime committed in the context of failed collegiate leadership any less worthy of a Department of Justice investigation? Certainly, one conducted by the Department of Education is merited.
With regards to The Paine Project website’s Human Resources Mismanagement section, just how many of the sixty-plus faculty and staff Bradley has fired in his six year tenure is Black in comparison to white? And, with regards to strictly student affairs, what is the expulsion disparity contrasting the treatment of black students with white?
There is little doubt that if Paine College were a predominantly white institution (PWI), the revelations presented on this website would be more than sufficient for the Paine College Board of Trustees to demand Bradley’s resignation, or effect his immediate termination along with his entire executive staff. But, only because Black incompetence at Black institutions, and abusive behavior performed by Blacks against Blacks is viewed as being less reprehensible, is such tolerated with both white and black political indifference and indolence.
Bradley exists because he has been allowed to exist. The snake that slithers its way into the garden cannot be faulted for doing what it does when it’s allowed to remain untouched by the gardener’s hoe. So, those who whisper foul, and cry ouch when finally bitten have nobody to blame but themselves.
In the 132-year history of Paine College, George C. Bradley is the institution’s sixth Black president. Unfortunately, the legacy he will leave is not only an ancestral disgrace, but a disservice to all the Paine presidential leadership that’s come before.
Well stated Kendra and your statement that “Bradley exists because he has been allowed to exist” truly begs the question from the Board of Trustees, “Why is Bradley allowed to exist?” The Bradley administration at Paine College are currently walking the halls boasting that they have 10 votes referring to the Board of Trustees. This is tragic that 10 Paine College Board of Trustee members have pledged their allegiance to Bradley. Essentially, the Bradley administration arrogantly beats on their chest knowing that their degree of ineptness will never be challenged, and they will not be held accountable by the current Board.
The legacy of Paine College is indeed in peril as are other HBCU’s whose Board of Trustees are predominantly composed of members of the church that include Wilburforce, Paul Quinn and St. Paul. The Board Governance needs to be modified to limit the church appointed Board members to one or two and not comprise 50% or more of the Board composition once the current Trustee members are removed. Otherwise, the HBCU leadership only needs to put all of their attention to patronizing the Board and appointing new members who will be loyal to their cause. After this is done, like Bradley, they can enjoy a seven year ride of not being held accountable. This is a time of prayer and action!
Why is George Bradley still the president of Paine College? Let us first say that we are a group of students who have been chatting all summer long and have emailed the Board of Trustees repeatedly begging and pleading for the urgent dismissal of Dr. George C. Bradley as well as other administrators. It is to the point now that most of us when we are out in public we make sure we are not wearing anything bearing the name of Paine College because we are really embarassed!! This past week was very difficult with the firing of 4 staff members to include Dean Chamblee. We have read some of the comments that were made about him but he can only do so much with what he was given. He has helped many students find key internships, not to mention jobs in both businesses and mass communication arenas. PAINE has lost another great asset to the college despite what others may think. WE are STUDENTS and WE ARE HURT BY HIS DISMISSAL. The ones that are trying to help students in midst of foolishness and peril are the ones that are let go. Mr. Ed Patrick, went above and beyond the call of duty to help students find other funding sources for their education but because he wouldnt lie to cover up Bradleys financial fiascos he was fired. Enrollment has dropped this semester and its going to drop again in the spring because the STUDENTS dont seem to matter to anyone so WE ARE LEAVING!!
George Bradley is still Paine College’s president because he surrounds himself with individuals who support his agenda. The dean that he recently terminated, David Chamblee, was one of those George Bradley loyalists. Chamblee did Bradley’s bidding with the expectation of preserving his employment, but found out like so many do that there is no honor among those who engage in corrupt policies and practices. Bradley orchestrated the unjust firing of an administrative secretary, and a department of education assistant professor through David Chamblee. Chamblee’s expulsion from the college gives credence to the proverb, “you reap what you sow.”
AN OP-ED IN RESPONSE TO THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE’S EDITORIAL: MAKE PAINE SHIP-SHAPE
The “ship’s crew” in the case of Paine College cannot cast a “suspecting glance toward the captain” without reflecting a harsh stare upon themselves. The website http://www.thepaineproject.net is the albatross hanging around the Paine College crew’s neck. George C. Bradley, as “captain,” is now no longer able to cover himself with a billowy sail of pretense. The Paine Project has ripped the sheets right off of him, along with all of his very strange bedfellows.
The admiralty, as applied to Paine College, is the Board of Trustees. But, just as Paine’s “crew” is sink-or-swim vested in its captain, seemingly even more so is a Board that would rather walk the plank with hundreds of students in front than do the right thing. The Titanic met its fate in the dark of night. The men and “woman” at the helm of Paine’s ship are blinded by the noonday sun.
Is the Bradley administration’s quest to maintain SACS accreditation about quality education? Or, is it about maintaining quality personal employment?
While the focus has been on financial exigencies, the beacon shining on academics has been as dim as its witted Bradley appointed leadership from each VP and so-called special assistant to each dean. Instead of the recently appointed advisory committee meeting in the captain’s stateroom (George Bradley’s conference room) to discuss what’s wrong with Paine College, a more significant perception would have been gotten by meeting with Paine College students in their cafeteria that has no air conditioning; in their dorm rooms that have roaches and rats; and, in their classrooms that are marked by instructional inefficiency as well as insufficiency.
The Augusta Chronicle has long chronicled the leadership issues in play at Paine College. Unfortunately, the race card has been played in effort to temper the Chronicle’s journalistic voice. The Paine Project website, however, is a horse of a different color that can comfortably call a spade a spade.
Obviously, to the dismay of Paine College’s leadership, The Paine Project has also made Paine College alumni, advocates, faculty, staff, and students very comfortable in saying that the proverbial 800 pound gorilla sitting in the room that nobody wants to talk about is George C. Bradley. And, of course, the barrel of monkeys feeding him fruit in the form of innocent students is none other than his sinking ship’s crew who share his burden of blame and shame.
First – Thank you editors of The Paine Project. We are Los Angeles, CA parents who were preparing to enroll our son at Paine College in Augusta, GA for the spring semester 2015. After being directed to your website, you have prevented us from making a huge mistake.
Second – The editorials, commentaries, posts, replies on your website’s pages are very impressive. It is immediately obvious that your advocates are accomplished professionals. Many of the writings are of such a journalistic caliber that they could be reprinted in the LA Times or Wall Street Journal.
After reading the above op-ed by “Airon,” I visited the Augusta Chronicle and saw another post of his responding to a Paine College professor named Matthew Hutcherson. We just felt that Airon’s reply was so appropriate in explanation as to why things have been allowed to get so out of hand at this HBCU. I hope you will reprint this post with proper attribution to its author “Airon.” It really needs to be read by many others who are on and beyond your website.
Once again on behalf of our family, thanks!
STARSKY & HUTCH by Airon
At risk of over simplification, in order to understand a George Bradley sympathizer, it’s a must to understand a “plantation mentality.”
During the 19th Century, slaves fleeing the atrocities of southern plantations navigated the so-called Underground Railroad by following the North Star. This “star” in the “sky” was a focus of freedom for all who believed anywhere was better than where they were.
On the other hand, there were those slaves who intellectualized their plantation condition. They believed the slave master was a genuinely good man because he let them have church on Wednesdays, and eat fried chicken every Sunday afternoon. In spite of the slave master’s tyrannical behavior, these slaves believed everything was going to be all right through prayer with no other concerted efforts on their own. Besides, these slaves said, “What we gonna do outside the hallowed halls of this here plantation anyways? Working here is all we’s ever knowed – no problem.”
With slippers drenched in ruby red blood, they still said, “there’s no place like home.” They were happy campers. And, unfortunately, it’s this Pharrell Williams type “happy” that keeps many applauding the exploitative antics of Paine College’s George C. Bradley and his overseer minions.
This “clapping along” with a room without a roof as if it’s truth is a modern day “plantation mentality.”
One of the most profound quotes rarely quoted was made by Harriet Tubman: “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if they only knew they were slaves.”
Thanks to the efforts of the creators of the Paine Project, the alumni, students and supporters of Paine College, Dr. George C. Bradley has resigned as President of Paine College. Dr. Silas Norman, chair of the Board of Trustees, has sent out a press release of this development. Now it is time to reclaim our school and build it back up. Prayer and unity will always triumph over secrecy and malfeasance.
For Immediate Release
September 16, 2014
Media Contact: Tonya J. Williams
706.396.7591 – Tjwilliams@paine.edu
Paine College – 1235 Fifteenth Street
Augusta, GA 30901 – http://www.paine.edu
Paine College Board Chair, Dr. Silas Norman, Jr., Gives Progress Report and Announces Resignation of the President
Today, Paine College Board Chairperson, Silas Norman, Jr., announces that Paine College continues to make progress on addressing the deficiencies cited by the accrediting body.
After meeting in Atlanta with members of the accrediting body, the College feels that our corrective action plan is addressing the issues sited by the accrediting body.
Over the past few years, Paine College has seen tremendous growth and development. Starting with the facelift on Fifteenth Street and the renovation of Haygood Holsey, Paine College continues to be a jewel to the city.
After several years of planning and development, the College was able to successfully build the new Health Education Activities Learning (HEAL) Complex which cost $8.4 million.
The College has also added the Paine College Villas which is a residential apartment complex.
We are also pleased that the College has been able to obtain many federal grants that have further enhanced the College’s academic standing. The Department of Energy grant brought more than $3.5 million into the Institution.
Dr. Bradley also increased the number of PH.D professors from 40% to 80%. We are very pleased that nearly 60% of our graduating seniors conduct academic research in their field of study.
Another major accomplishment made during Dr. Bradley’s tenure is that the College now joins many sites across the United States on the National Registry of Historic Places.
After much discussion and dialogue, Dr. George C. Bradley, believes that the College is in good position and also believes that the Board has a sound plan to sustain Paine College. The President also shared with me that he desires to spend more time with his family and believes that the College is in a good state to transition out.
Therefore the Board has accepted his resignation with deepest thanks and appreciation for his service. His hard work and dedication will be forever appreciated by myself, the members of the Paine College Board of Trustees, faculty and staff of Paine College.
Further details will be released.
For Immediate Release
September 16, 2014
Media Contact: Tonya J. Williams
706.396.7591 – Tjwilliams@paine.edu
Paine College – 1235 Fifteenth Street
Augusta, GA 30901 – http://www.paine.edu
Paine College President, Dr. George C. Bradley, Announces Resignation
Today, Paine College President, Dr. George C. Bradley, announced his resignation.
“I’d like to thank members of the Board of Trustees, the Paine College Community and the Augusta community for the opportunity to serve as the 14th President of Paine College.”
“Tina and I are proud of the students that we have participated in helping lay the foundations for the next generation of servant leaders. I am always mindful that we have to continue to plant trees that we know we will never sit under. I cannot thank enough the many people in the CSRA for their support of Paine College and her students. I will continue to be an advocate for the great work that is taking place at Paine College.”
“We know that the College, students, faculty, staff and students have bright futures that lie ahead. We feel so privileged to have shared in this journey.”
A new beginning at Paine College is underway. This is only the first step as there is so much work to do, but congratulations to The Paine Project. Without this website, Bradley’s resignation would not have occurred. Now, the true and challenging work of restoring Paine College can now occur. The next step is evaluating the Board of Trustees and their policies and procedures. The selection of Board members need to be closely scrutinized and should not be made by a certain few. This needs to be done quickly as finding a new President will be challenging without changes to the Board being made.
“DING…DONG”
While many of us are singing the fabled “Ding Dong” song as we skip down the yellow brick road to Emerald City, this is only a good start. Neither the Wiz nor Dr. Oz can cure the “Paine” if Bradley’s interim and/or long term replacement is merely a continuator of Bradley’s policies, practices, and procedures.
Samuel Sullivan, Paine’s current Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs was resurrected out of the retirement grave by Bradley because of his willingness to allow Tina Marshall-Bradley to control the Office of Academic Affairs as associate VP. In Sullivan’s two-year tenure, Bradley orchestrated the firing and resignations of at least a dozen academic faculty members. Under Sullivan’s inept leadership as Paine’s chief academic officer, Paine College presently has two so-called schools with no deans, and several department chairs missing. A direct result of Sullivan’s leadership finds students currently enrolled in academic programs as majors with insufficient instructional tools and faculty to assure the quality of education advertised, marketed, and promoted by the institution.
Walter Howard, is/was Special Assistant to the President (George Bradley). Well, Howard’s title for the past six and a half years under Bradley speaks for itself. Howard has been “extra special.”
Cheryl Evans-Jones, is/was Bradley’s administrative assistant. It was through Evan-Jones that George Bradley’s voice was publicly transmitted time after time after time after time. Does being Bradley’s mouthpiece seriously qualify her to be Bradley’s successor?
Even though Bradley may now be “gone where the goblins go,” there will be no day of independence for all of Paine’s descendants if tweedledum is only replaced by tweedledee.
Nevertheless…KUDOS TO YOU…The Paine Project Editors and supporters!
GREAT JOB PAINE PROJECT !!!
We’re in Seattle, WA (home of the Seahawks!) Great news travels fast!
Our hit list:
George C. Bradley (DONE)
Brandon Brown (NEXT)
Samuel Sullivan (NEXT)
Roger McLean (NEXT)
Walter Howard (NEXT)
David Chamblee (DONE)
Reginald Beatty (NEXT)
2 down and 5 to go!
And don’t forget Tina Bradley
Dear Paine Project Executives,
Your work is not done. Dr. Samuel Sullivan is about as energetic and inspirational as that broken satellite dish that’s been sitting on the Paine College campus in front of Haygood-Holsey Hall for the last 20 years. As Paine College’s provost and VP Academic Affairs, all Sullivan has done the last couple years is sit in front of his office computer and play solitaire acting like he was busy. The academic program at Paine College is in deplorable shape. Just surf the Paine College web site’s academics and faculty directory and see for yourself. Why on earth would Paine’s Board of Directors put Samuel Sullivan in the position of interim Paine College president? Sullivan has publicly stated on numerous occasions that he wasn’t even interested in keeping the provost/VP job longer than a year. But George C. Bradley begged him to stay because he needed a yes-man. Now, for the Board of Directors to appoint this guy interim president is a joke. Newsflash: Step aside George Bradley. Get ready for the skeletons that are gonna come falling out of this guy’s closet.
REPRINT FROM AUGUSTA CHRONICLE by Airon
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2014-09-16/paine-president-resigns#comment-1350113
DR. MARCUS TILLERY
Dr. Marcus Tillery, the former Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Paine College, whom George Bradley fired for opposing Tina Marshall-Bradley’s role as a proxy president, should be on the short list for Paine College’s 15th inaugurated President.
Dr. Tillery is not only exceedingly competent, he is connected to substantial money sources that could lift the college out of its financial quagmire.
According to very informed sources, Dr. Samuel Sullivan, Bradley’s interim successor, is about as “energetic and inspirational as that broken satellite dish that’s been sitting on the Paine College campus in front of Haygood Hall for the last 20 years.”
Coming out of retirement at the behest of Bradley and wife Tina to assume the role of Paine College’s provost and VP Academic Affairs, word has it that Sullivan has done little more than “sit in front of his office computer and play solitaire.” Not even bothering to close his office door, this 75-year old has even been observed sleeping at his desk.
The academic program at Paine under Sam Sullivan is horrendous. One has to look no farther than the Paine College website’s academics and faculty directory sections to discern the inadequacies.
Just why would Paine’s Board of Directors put Samuel Sullivan in the position of interim Paine College president when Sullivan has publicly stated that he wasn’t even interested in keeping the provost/VP position longer than a year? Considered by many to be just another George Bradley hanger-on, Samuel Sullivan has hung-on just long enough to find himself a Paine College president.
As history tends to repeat itself, so will the mistakes made by this college unless a clean sweep of leadership is immediately made. The entire Bradley regime needs to go. Right down the line from Samuel Sullivan, to Walter Howard, Bradley’s Special Assistant; to Cheryl-Evans-Jones, Bradley’s Administrative Assistant; to Roger McLean, Bradley’s proxy CFO (whom the SCLC ran out of Edward Waters College as CFO); to Brandon Brown, Bradley’s VP of Institutional Advancement who was busted for DUI; to Reginald Beatty, Bradley’s frat brother and VP of Student Affairs, who is currently under federal (EEOC) investigation as the result of a sexual harassment complaint.
Dr. Marcus Tillery brings a whole lot to Paine’s table and the Augusta civic community. If this college wants to make some serious moves in the right direction, Tillery should be given some very serious consideration.
I know that he is older in age but I must say on Wednesday the SGA had a town hall meeting for the students can have the opportunity to ask questions about different areas of the campus as a whole and he did what Bradley hasnt done since he had been president….HE SHOWED UP!!! And might I add answer the questions with sincerity and compassion so much so that we felt that he was being truthful as with Bradley you knew that anything that came out his mouth was a bold faced lie!!
Dear Friends and Family of Paine College:
I love the Augusta community. Its rich heritage makes it altogether lovely. And, since Paine College is embedded right in the midst of this rich diverse culture, I care deeply for this institution as well. These past several months, as you’ve sought relief and struggled to course redirect, I’ve followed the posts on this website and I have grieved with you; I have cheered for you; and, most importantly, I have prayed for you. Until today, notwithstanding all I’ve read, I’ve remained unmotivated to respond to any of the posts. Today, that changed. The impetus behind my paradigm shift is the attack on Samuel Sullivan. The negative rants about this man are undeserved and have deeply saddened me. The premise that skeletons will emerge from his closet is reminiscent of the Salem witches’ hunt. Parenthetically, let me preface what I’m about to say with the fact that no one escapes the power of the microscope, including the best and the most pure of us all. With its capability of intense scrutiny, a microscope will uncover a bit of lint on us all. After all, we are human and therefore imperfect; otherwise, we wouldn’t need a savior. If you are exempt, cast a stone. That said, to think by digging and by searching you will find a history and a trail of malfeasance and prurient behavior on Samuel Sullivan, simply means, you don’t know him. Sam Sullivan is an integritous man who’s well-respected far and near; he is a good man. Perfect? Of course not — but then, neither are you and certainly not me. Again, if we were, we wouldn’t need a savior. Attempting to denegrate his character by name-calling and mudslinging is inexplicable and nothing short of abominable. Further, to insinuate Sam lacks intelligence means the author of the post just doesn’t know him. He has a PhD in Physics – not an accomplishment of one who lacks intelligence.
Paine College is a Christian school. Let us begin the healing process and the move forward by joining together in prayerful contemplation lifting this proud Christian institution to our Lord and our Savior, the one who presides over us all. Let us pray together that our Almighty God dispatches angels to cover the four corners of the campus. Let us pray together that we are peacemakers and not the spreaders of dispair, discord and strife. Let us pray together for the school’s board of directors, its administration, its students, its faculty and its leadership. Let us pray together that a spirit of light and love roams and prevails over the entire campus removing any traces of darkness and wickedness perched in high places. I believe prayer changes things, so I implore you to join me by daily lifting Paine to our Lord and asking Him for divine guidance. Join me in daily prayer lifting Sam Sullivan and asking our God to bless him, to strengthen him, to gift him with supernatural wisdom and to surround him with godly men and women as he obediently serves in the position to which he has been called. Our God is a great big and wise God; He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He has 20-20 vision in the past, the present and the future, and He knows how to apply His wisdom perfectly in every situation — this is no exception. This passing of the mantle did not catch our God by surprise. In His divine wisdom, He knew this day was coming. Let us trust that our loving, Heavenly Father, the Lord God Almighty knows what He is doing.
As I conclude let me say, this is not about Samuel Sullivan. It is about Paine’s restoration; it is about Paine’s caring community joining together on one accord to lift up this Christian institution.
2 Chronicles 7:14 New International Version. The word of the Lord to King Solomon:
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Paine College is our land. Let us seek its healing.
Prayerfully submitted,
A caring friend of Paine College
AN ADVOCATE OF THE PAINE PROJECT
With regards to all of those who have voiced their “outrage” and “disgust” with disrespect for the website, THE PAINE PROJECT, labeling its creators as “cowards,” the resignation of George C. Bradley as the 14th President of Paine College is ample testament that the “pen is mightier than the sword. Far from being practitioners of yellow journalism, those behind the Project’s curtain were only the spark plugs required to start an engine that George C. Bradley had been choking ever since being seated behind Paine College’s steering wheel.
How ironic it is that those George C. Bradley supporters who cried foul the loudest know so little about American history to have American college degrees. Even though Thomas Paine wasn’t a founder of Paine College, he wrote a pamphlet most fifth graders are familiar with called “Common Sense.” It was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense that was published “anonymously” on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution. This publication of Paine’s became an immediate sensation. It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. George Washington even had it read to all of his troops, which at the time had surrounded the British army in Boston. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time, Common Sense had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history.
To all of those “not that much smarter than a fifth grader” Bradley supporters, Common Sense presented the American colonists with an argument for freedom from British rule at a time when the question of whether or not to seek independence was the central issue of the day. Thomas Paine wrote and reasoned in a style that common people understood. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was described as “the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era. And, of course, it was this “anonymous” publication that freed what was to become America from the tyranny of England’s King George.
The Paine Project is just another “common sense” publication that gave common hard working students, faculty, staff, alumni, advocates, and friends of Paine College a voice in the good riddance of another “King George.” The sixty-something staff and faculty enumerated on The Paine Project’s website as having being terminated by King George Bradley and his court were finally given a voice that this King George and his boyz had miserably failed to do with respect to “due process.”
The Paine College Board of Trustees sanitized Bradley’s departure by giving him several months’ severance pay, and allowing him to call his exit a resignation. But, for the sixty-something Bradley and his bunch booted, their leaving was not so sanitary. It was nasty. And, even though vengeance was not theirs as far as any kind of Augusta, GA James Brown “big pay back,” payback for Bradley, as far as embarrassment and humiliation, and for others of his ilk still remaining to come, will be a “you know what.”
While some may call The Paine Project’s anonymity cowardice, and The Paine Project itself illegitimate, this writer likes what he thinks Malcolm X would have called it when it comes to the removal of a tyrannical leader and his cowardly administration: BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
AMEN, AMEN, AMEN, We applaud what the Paine Project stands for and what it has accomplished so far. The Paine Project is not about who wrote it or contributed to it, but about TRUTH. The Paine Project told the truth, something Bradley and Brown refused to do. Their MO was to keep you and me in the dark. So thank God for the Paine Project. And with Bradley gone we can begin the process of righting this ship.
What relevance does someone’s personal life have to their professional life. Every cowardly post referencing the man’s personal imperfections as evidence of professional incompetence should be ignored. Everyone and I mean everyone has done many things that they are not proud of. Before you expose others from the shadows, make sure that you won’t be too offended when your turn comes around.
The following is taken directly off the Paine College web site:
Our Mission
The Mission of Paine College, a church-related private institution, is to provide a liberal arts education of the highest quality that emphasizes academic excellence, ethical and spiritual values, social responsibility, and personal development to prepare men and women for positions of leadership and service in the African American community, the nation, and the world.
Core Values:
The Core Values of Paine College are Excellence, Appreciation of Heritage, Integrity, Fiscal Responsibility, and Service.
What relevance does someone’s personal life have to their professional life?
Perhaps a more sensible question is what relevance should someone’s personal life have to their professional life when their “profession” is:
1. Church Related
2. Excellence
3. Ethicalness
4. Spiritual Values
5. Social Responsibility
6. Integrity
7. Fiscal Responsibility
If you’re going to talk the talk; shouldn’t you walk the walk? When those who hold themselves up as leaders fail to practice what they preach or teach; their apologists are really no better than they are. The willful inability to meet the standard you not only set, but expect others to follow is incompetence. It’s also hypocritical, and it’s a mockery of the principles you personally profess.
What relevance does someone’s personal life have to their professional life? None whatsoever when you prefer living in darkness never wanting to see the light. Ignoring truth is ignorance on the part of all who do so. The Bradley administration needed to be exposed. Those that want to give him and others a pass under the excuse of “personal imperfections” will never be a solution to Paine’s problems; and probably not even to their own. The bar they set is just too low.
The Paine Project is a great tool that can be used by the Paine College Community to effectively express their concerns, and for the Paine College leadership to hear these concerns. My hope is that the website continues to be this unique communication tool that will require the core values of Paine to be followed by all. As Paine moves forward, the website’s purpose will shift, but nevertheless, its will serve as a watchtower to help ensure that the lessons learned will not be relived. Whether you agree, disagree or are neutral to the comments made on this website, the focus is on the issue and not the source of the comment. We get distracted with who made the comment more than if the comment is relevant, accurate and needs to be further addressed. We salute ‘The Paine Project’ for the tireless effort and for providing the highest quality deliverable that the Paine College Community deserves, a true representation of the five core values.
REPLY TO AUGUSTA CHRONICLE EDITORIAL – A new doctor to manage Paine
http://chronicle.augusta.com/opinion/editorials/2014-09-19/new-doctor-manage-paine
…BY ANY OTHER NAME by Airon
Cursory followers of the Paine College saga fail to realize that changing Paine’s president will have little to no effect on solving Paine’s problems without a complete change of the administration that supported George Bradley’s policies and practices. Samuel Sullivan is one of George Bradley’s hand-picked yes-men. Sullivan will do no more to rid Paine of Brandon Brown than President Barack Obama will do to rid the White House of wife Michelle.
Paine College’s academic program has withered the past two years under Samuel Sullivan’s leadership as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. The dual school system under Sullivan has been decimated. There are no deans, musical chairs are being played with department chair positions. One flagrant example is the Department of Media Studies.
The Department of Media Studies, which has close to 200 majors, only has two professors, neither of which have doctorate degrees. The theatre program at Paine, which offers a dozen or more classes as a major, only has one instructor. This Paine theatre program offers courses that cannot possibly be effectively taught in order to provide a quality education since there is neither stage nor theatrical equipment on the Paine campus. And, unfortunately, in order to mitigate that issue, there are no viably established relationships with community theatre groups, or other educational institutions to fill in the blanks.
The fact that students and parents are paying over $20,000 in annual tuition, and federal funds are being accepted for this type of academic disservice should be considered criminal.
Since Sullivan has allowed this to go on as VP Academic Affairs up to his very recent appointment as interim Paine College President, this speaks volumes with regard to his leadership skills respecting this HBCU.
Reflecting on Sullivan’s previous association with Augusta State University (GRU), does anyone seriously believe he would have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to such a horrendous scholastic situation?
While morale may be momentarily high at Paine over the departure of George Bradley, again, until there is a total house of Paine Extreme Makeover, the status quo will be maintained; the lethargy will go on.
Paine College should be in the business of providing a quality education first and foremost that is representative of academic excellence. What is the purpose of retaining SACS accreditation if the academic component is not comparatively credible? Do Paine College students deserve more; or more of the same?
The Paine College Board of Trustees, and all of those who rode and continue to ride George Bradley’s coat tails as members of his administration need to be escorted off campus by Paine College security chief Joe Nelson in the same manner as was Bradley. If they aren’t, a wilted rose by any other name will smell the same.
Today’s termination of Brandon Brown and Tina Marshall-Bradley evidences the effectiveness of “The Paine Project” website. It validates that the assertions made have merit and the worldwide exposure of the abuses and corrupt practices engaged in by the Bradley Administration had become way too much of a public spectacle for the Paine College Board of Trustees to excuse with its customary business as usual approach.
It’s my hope that the Paine Board will now move with accelerated dispatch to rid the college of the remaining vestiges of George C. Bradley’s personnel cronies, long masquerading as college administrators, namely Walter Howard, Special Assistant to George Bradley, Roger McLean, Internal Auditor, Reginald Beatty, Dean-Vice President Student Affairs; and the several others who have done Bradley’s biddings.
Exactly what is the Paine Board doing to find a reputable President as a replacement for Bradley? And, a credible Provost-Vice President for Academic Affairs to restore Paine College to academic excellence? I trust the editors of The Paine Project will remain vigilant as well as relentless in their efforts to make sure the interim appointments of Samuel Sullivan and Cheryl Evans-Jones are not the Paine Board’s final answer to Paine College’s six-year problem.
Congratulations interim president Samuel Sullivan on your decision to finally terminate the employment of retired Army colonel Reginald Beatty whom George C. Bradley appointed as dean/vice president in the Office of Student Affairs. Unfortunately, Beatty’s 18-month tenure has resulted not only in the departure of numerous students alleging gestapo type tactics in their treatment, but the termination of several employees, one of which has filed a federal lawsuit against Beatty and Paine College alleging sexual harassment.
In the interest of the dawning of a new 2015 year, I’m hoping Sullivan will find the courage to not only demote the few remaining vestiges of the Bradley administration who are lingering on for dear life employment, but will decidedly rid the campus of their presence forevermore.
In the case of this institution, “no news” does not mean good news. To the contrary, it means no one is doing anything of any significance to be positively reported. When it comes to an institution of higher learning that employs close to 200 faculty and staff supposedly serving 800 or more students, having absolutely nothing scholarly or administratively good to say is very bad.
A Happy New Year for Paine College would and should be the induction of an energetic and vibrant new leadership team that will inspire and motivate faculty, staff, and students as the SACS issues are resolved. With student enrollment numbers already down, and currently enrolled students voicing decisions to transfer at the end of the year, and fresh career minded faculty looking for the first better deal in order to exit, this is the only way to stop the bleeding that’s becoming a hemorrhage.
The fact that a majority of the Paine College faculty and staff did not receive payroll checks for the month of December is tragic.
The firings of George Bradley and four sevenths of his ilk should not be the end game for Paine College since Paine is still a project in progress. In spite of Dr. Sullivan’s lackluster performance as Bradley’s handpicked Provost/VP Academic Affairs, I also wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. But, it appears that the institution is currently running on autopilot. Confirmed by the College’s website, student and faculty inactivity and non-productivity is apparent. Reading a few of the post Bradley posts, it looks like this current holdover administration is all about doing just enough to maintain their employment contracts. I’m an HBCU graduate, and it saddens me when I scroll through the Paine College website and see little to nothing to be excited about if I were a student attending this school. Some of the departments only have 2 or 3 faculty members. How are students provided a quality and competitive education with insufficient instruction? Even though Paine College is dealing with accreditation challenges and budgetary constraints, that’s no excuse for showing a lack of creativity and vision. Such a dismal online internet display speaks volumes regarding this post Bradley era with regard to this interim Samuel Sullivan administration. And, the fact that faculty and staff were not paid during the month of December is horrible.
My hope for 2015 is that the Paine College Board of Trustees will do the right thing by making a concerted effort to bring on an entirely new and energetic visionary administration that has the competency to progress this institution in the interest of its students.
Wake up people; it’s 2015. Just as it’s finally coming to light that the Sony hack was an inside job, the Paine College saga is no different. If not for THE PAINE PROJECT.NET, George Bradley would still be president of Paine College with wife Tina and Brandon Brown sitting on his left and right hand sides. The “end game” has always been and continues to be the merger of Paine College with GRU, formerly Augusta State University.
Who’s now seated in Bradley’s seat? Yes, Samuel Sullivan who was formerly a chief executive at Augusta State University (ASU) which became Georgia Regents University (GRU). It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots; just someone who isn’t vested in a Paine College payroll check. After Sullivan served his purpose at ASU by helping orchestrate its GRU merger, he immediately went into retirement. Bradley then brought Sullivan immediately out of retirement and appointed him Paine College Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Sullivan’s performance as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Paine College was “lackluster” because it was supposed to be. How do you justify the collegiate merger of an institution that has a solid and long term viable academic program? Now look around and see who’s currently seated as Paine’s VP of Academic Affairs, Sullivan old position. Yes, Cheryl Evans-Jones, George Bradley’s former Executive Assistant.
The Paine College website is “dismal” because it is internally designed to be. The students are not energized by extra-curricular creative activities in order to stimulate their scholarly productivity because that defeats the “end game” game plan. The Paine College faculty aren’t inspired by a vibrant administration to pursue scholarly productivity that adds to their individual discipline’s body of knowledge because that also defeats the “end game” game plan. So, yes, Paine College’s faculty do just enough to draw a Paine College payroll check.
Yes, perhaps the Paine College Board of Trustees initially fired Samuel Sullivan as newly appointed Paine College interim president for the “wrong reason,” but sometimes a crooked stick can beat a straight path. When connecting the dots, who was it that orchestrated a faculty/student protest to get Sullivan reinstated as interim President? Yes, Cheryl Evans-Jones. Why? Well, Sullivan’s untimely termination would defeat the “end game” game plan’ i.e. Paine College’s merger with GRU.
And, yes, who fell for the “end game” okie doke? Well, the Paine College staff and faculty who sat out the month of December 2014 without a Paine College payroll check.
Probably nowhere in America, except at a college that’s being set up for a “hostile takeover” will you find academic departments being administered by no more than 2 or 3 professors. And, and a professional faculty and staff’s silent night acceptance of a Christmas month’s work without pay as their personal contribution to saving Paine College as their civic duty.
Of course, there are those who will take all of this as very fanciful thinking. But, again, now, after-the-fact, the FBI is now saying that North Korea “probably” had nothing to do with the Sony cyber attack. But, who would have thought before-the-fact that they could be hoodwinked and bamboozled into buying a ticket to see a dumb movie under the guise of defending freedom-of-speech as their patriotic duty?
It will be great when our SACs review is over next month and we can get back to displaying those activities associated with emphasizing academic excellence, ethical and spiritual values, social responsibility, and personal development to prepare men and women for positions of leadership and service in the African American community, the nation, and the world.
For far too long, we have allowed the easy road toward success to decide our fate and the souring collaborative partnerships with our immediate Augusta community.
Now we have in place the type of leadership, throughout the college, that will ensure that our school follows the Paine College standard that has been held in high esteem.
Our current college leadership is expected to follow a path guided by the type of ethical standards and integrity that has long been associated with our great school.