As the summer deadline to hire a new leader approaches, Southern University will use the firm TM2 Executive Search to find its next president.The firm specializes in working with historically Black colleges and universities, TM2 consultants said at the Southern Board of Supervisors meeting Friday.”We believe that we have the tools necessary, we believe that we have the experience necessary, to bring you all’s next system-level president,” TM2 President Amanda Washington Lockett said.Lockett said Southern and TM2 are aligned not just on the executive search but in shared history.Booker T. Washington, her great-great grandfather, met with Southern University’s first president, Joseph S. Clark, on campus to discuss the future of the university over 100 years ago, she said.”I have HBCUs through and through in my blood, and I’m so honored to be working with you all today,” Lockett said.The Southern University System Foundation will retain and compensate TM2, a spokesperson for Southern said.The presidential search timeline has the Board of Supervisors considering final candidates at its May 14 meeting, with a new president in place by July 1.
