Hello GPC Faculty and College Community,

In case you have not read the article published in the Albany Herald on February 8, I'm attaching the link:

State Rep. Ed Rynders, R-Leesburg, of District 152 also wanted to make sure Southwest Georgians understood the merger talk of Darton and Albany Tech stemmed simply from a draft.

"I spoke with the Governor’s Office this week and (Education Policy Adviser for Gov. Perdue Erin Hames) and she basically confirmed that we’re in the draft stages now looking at various options," he said in a phone interview. "I specifically asked her if this could be done through an executive order and it’s my opinion that the governor is looking at the legal aspects regarding that. My interpretation was that the Governor’s Office was exploring how this kind of move could be done. ... I didn’t get a direct answer."

However, Bert Brantley, a spokesman for Gov. Perdue, wanted to dispel the ominous nature of Rynders’ executive order query.

"It is not at all likely that we’ll execute an executive order towards this track tomorrow — it is not going to happen," Brantley said. "There’s a sense that (Perdue’s) already got his mind made up and got all these (committee) people together on something he’s already made his mind on and that’s certainly not the case. There’s all kinds of fear. I’m not going to say where we’re going to end up. Who knows where we’re going to end up? He has not even heard these recommendations yet."

In the article, Bert Brantley also states, "There’s a notion out there that the governor convened this group without any two-year representation to do away with two-year colleges and that’s just not the case....You can write that up, but people won’t believe it, but I appreciate you trying."