Clark Atlanta gets rid of its alumni association

Clark Atlanta University is ending its agreement with the current alumni association, according to a university announcement Thursday.

The historically Black university in Atlanta announced the creation of a new alumni advisory council and added two new roles to support alumni relations. The university also promoted Lorri Saddler, its vice president of alumni affairs, to vice president and chief alumni engagement officer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The changes took effect Oct. 1.

According to the announcement, the move came in response to “shifting alumni demographics and evolving preferences in how alumni engage with the university.” It cited a May 2024 survey that found that alumni “seek more personalized, dynamic, and digitally connected interactions”; 40 percent of respondents said they were “inactive or felt underserved by the current model.” The university plans to host roundtables in major cities to discuss the transition and allow alumni to ask questions and offer input.

Shoring up alumni relations is important to the “long-term stability of our institution,” George T. French Jr., president of Clark Atlanta, said in the announcement. “By reinventing our alumni engagement model, we’re ensuring that CAU leads in alumni relations among all institutions and fosters a stronger, more connected global alumni base.”

Clark Atlanta alumni told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the association was prone to divisions and infighting, including over how the association should be run. They pointed to tensions between alumni who graduated before Clark College and Atlanta University merged in 1988 and those who graduated after, as well as a broader generational divide. Some alumni saw the decision to remove the association as a positive step that was long overdue, while others described it as abrupt and potentially harmful to alumni relations.

“This decision has eroded trust,” Veverly Byrd-Davis, former president of the alumni association’s Atlanta and Dekalb County chapters, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.