Amarillo College selects Conner for President

AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — The Amarillo College Board of Regents announced Tuesday night that Dr. Jamelle Conner has been selected as the school's next president. She will become the first woman to hold the position.

They met for about two hours behind closed doors while they debated the choice between Conner, currently the Vice President of Student Affairs at St. Petersburg College in Florida, and Doctor Frank Sobey, currently the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Amarillo College. After they emerged, the regents were each asked which candidate they supported and allowed to explain their reasoning. Conner received the majority of the votes.

"We literally put our candidates side-by-side on paper and we spent two hours doing this. We didn't just go in and say "Oh, who do you like?" We really looked at it carefully," said Jay Barrett, Chairman AC Board of Regents.

Conner said she is eager to get established in Amarillo as soon as possible.

"I want to get out and talk with faculty, staff and students and also get out in the community, talk with businesses, talk with different elected officials, community resource organizations, just really start to get to know people."

The next step is to finalize Conner's contract, which the board will approve sometime in January and a starting date will be set then, likely around the start of the 2025 fall semester.

Denese Skinner will continue to serve as Interim President until Conner takes office.

Conner's selection brings an end to a 17-month search to replace Russell Lowery-Hart who left to become chancellor at Austin Community College.