The Presidential Search Committee will not publicly confirm or deny recent reports naming former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams or Interim President Neil Kerwin as possible candidates for president of AU, according to presidential Chief of Staff David Taylor.
"The [Presidential Search Committee] does not intend to make candidate names public," Taylor said. "At this point, all names are completely confidential, whether the person is an internal or external candidate."
Although rumors of Williams' interest in the job had already circulated, an article in the Dec. 14, 2006, issue of The Washington Post heightened public interest in the subject. Williams met with Gary Abramson, chair of the Presidential Search Committee, last year to discuss his possible application for the position. Two sources claimed Abramson was "noncommittal" and reportedly did not encourage Williams' interest in pursuing the matter. Kerwin was also mentioned as a candidate, according to The Post.
Taylor said the committee would make no confirmations about the reported meeting between Williams and Abramson.
"I've had at least two inquiries from The Washington Post on this, and my response has been that the committee does not intend to make candidate names public at this time," he said.
Williams, 55, first came to prominence in District politics when he became the city's chief financial officer during former Mayor Marion Barry's final term. Previously, he had served at executive posts in several U.S. cities and was the chief financial officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Williams was widely credited with leading the District into a fiscal recovery, causing him to become a popular political figure. Williams was drafted into the 1998 mayoral race, which he later won. He was elected to a second term in 2002, and announced in 2005 that he would not seek re-election.
Yesterday, Williams became the chief executive of Public Properties Realty Investment Trust, the newly created real estate subsidiary of Arlington-based investment firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, according to The Post.
While The Post claimed that Williams' career change might end the presidential buzz surrounding him, Taylor said it was just as likely to "heighten the speculation."
Publicly, Williams denied ever expressing interest in AU's presidency. At one point, Williams even told The Post that he "had not given the notion any thought." The Eagle attempted to contact Vince Morris, Williams' former spokesman, but he did not return phone calls for comment.
At the moment, the secrecy about possible presidential candidates extends beyond actual identities to even an exact number of applicants.
"[The Presidential Search Committee] has said that they will not be divulging the number of candidates either," Taylor said. "For right now, things are pretty quiet."
However, he added that there had been "robust" use of the committee's presidential nomination e-mail account, and that it had "produced some wonderful suggestions for candidates."
Taylor said the committee will meet soon for its first review of candidate applications, and may not release any candidate identities until it has made a final decision. He said it was common practice for any employer not to release details like the names of potential job candidates publicly.
"Not making the names public in any search is not that unusual," he said. "You could have a search for any job on this campus, and whether you get 20 or 120 people to apply, they don't necessarily want to be identified until late in the game when they become a serious candidate"
