Just like flies members of our Board of Trustees are falling, one-by-one. Late yesterday evening, Regina Benjamin resigned from the FAMU BoT.Mrs. Benajamin, an Alabama physician, was among the six trustees who had voted against incoming president James Ammons. The FAMU National Alumni Association had asked for her resignation along with that of Willie George Allen, Jesse Tyson, Leerie Jenkins, Challis Lowe, and Laura Branker.
Benjamin said, in a letter dated May 8, that she was resigning because her recent election as president of the Federation of State Medical Boards and its three-year commitment "require significant time and international travel." Her resignation is effective immediately.
In the past few weeks, Mrs. Lowe came off the FAMU BoT after the Florida Senate refused to confirm her. Her departure was followed by the resignation of Mr. Allen, who was caught up in his laxed oversight of the FAMU finance and audit committee.
Of the six trustees to vote against Ammons, only Trustees Laura Branker and Leerie Jenkins remain.
See: Allen quits FAMU BOT
Ding, dong Lowe is Gone!
We can't have a new start without digging out the deeply planted bad roots that have taken hold of this institution in administration, staff and faculty.
ReplyDeleteEvery Trustee present since Gainous needs to resigns regardless who they voted for. Accountability has to be held for FAMU performance over the past five years.
ReplyDeleteFrom JBHE:
ReplyDeleteFlorida A&M University Was Once a Mecca for the Nation’s Highest-Achieving Black Students: Those Days Are Gone
In 1996, Florida A&M enrolled 73 National Achievement Scholars, more than any other college or university in the nation. The success of the university in attracting so many of the nation’s top black students resulted in Time magazine selecting Florida A&M University as its 1997 “College of the Year.”
But over the past decade, numerous financial irregularities, turmoil in administrative ranks, and a drop in enrollment have tarnished the university’s reputation. In the fall of 2006 only one of the 800 National Achievement Scholars enrolled at Florida A&M.
The generous merit-based financial aid awards once used by then FAMU president Frederick Humphries to attract the best black students are no longer available. A decade of financial problems and scandals, many of them involving the financial aid office, have rocked the campus. Some state legislators in Florida have even hinted that they might consider closing the university if it does not quickly take steps to right the financial ship.
James H. Ammons, former chancellor of North Carolina Central University and an alumnus of Florida A&M, recently was named president of the university. He has a monumental task of restoring the financial footing and the academic reputation of what was once the mecca for the nation’s best and brightest black students.
Regarding our law students:
ReplyDeleteBlack student enrollment in decline
The pipeline to diversity in the legal profession is broken.
That was the premise of a panel discussion at the Diversity Symposium called “Loss of Future Diversity: Declining Minority Enrollment and Low Bar Passage Rate.”
Alfredo Garcia, dean of St. Thomas University School of Law, provided these numbers: From 1995 to 2005, first-year law school enrollment at ABA approved schools increased about 10 percent, and Asian-Americans showed a dramatic increase of 43 percent.
“But the disturbing trend,” Garcia said, was an overall decrease in African-American law students by almost 16.5 percent.
Ruth Witherspoon, interim dean of the Florida A&M University College of Law, said it’s been tough to meet the mission of a historically black university.
“One of the most difficult things we have had to face is the criticism that we’re not doing enough,” she said.
She said she feels squeezed by both ends: The legislature said FAMU’s law school should have 750 students by 2008 — and the expectation from the community is that a majority will be black.
“How do you meet those expectations? Well, that means that you have to begin to take risks. . . . How low can you go on the LSAT score and still have people able to demonstrate strong academic abilities and still be able to pass the bar exam? . . . We’ve taken quite a few risks, in my personal opinion more than we really should have. Because the question becomes: Unless you have a very, very strong academic support program in place to meet the needs of those students that you’ve already identified as being in greater need of assistance, they’re not going to be successful.”
She said most law schools would prefer not to take anyone with an LSAT score below 150. But in the application year of 2005, there were only 734 African-American students in the nation with a LSAT score of 150 to 154, and a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Leonard Strickman, dean of Florida International University College of Law, said he enjoys “a wealth of outstanding Latino candidates” because Miami is one of the most diverse communities in America. A key to getting more black law students, he said, is to grab their interest when they are young.
Miguel de la O, chair of the Board of Bar Examiners, was asked about the move to increase the passing score on the bar exam at a time of declining minority students.
“Let me start by passing the buck,” he said. “I was not on the board when we recommended increasing the score.”
The bad news is that since the passing rate was raised to 136 in two phases in 2003, the average passing percentage has been 73 percent, a drop of about 4.9 percent.
“The good news is we actually expected it to be a lot worse,” he said.
“We are working on evaluating the numbers and evaluating the demographics of the bar passage rates and the impact it has had on minorities. We are very close to issuing a report to the Florida Supreme Court, and then it will be up to the court to decide whether it wants to release that report.”
Bar exam statistics reflecting demographic information are confidential in Florida.
“The opponents of releasing the information. . . (feared) that the information would be misused to stereotype and denigrate minority groups, that it would be reinforcing certain societal expectations,” de la O said.
“I can’t reveal our statistics, but I would say they’re not that different from California’s,” he said.
According to the California Bar’s Web site, on the July 2006 exam, for first time test-takers, the passage rates were 79 percent for whites, 70 percent for Asians, 62.5 percent for Hispanics, and 54.3 percent for blacks.
[Updated: 04-25-2007 ]
Hey Jenkins and Branker! What's UP???
ReplyDeleteDr. Benjamin, thanks! Jenkins and Branker, you're on the clock!
ReplyDeletethey're dropping like flies. Two more to go and we are Halfway there.
ReplyDeleteRemember, Crist still needs to appoint people to the board who are not like the losers that've already resigned. We went nuts over booting Corbin, and got Challis Lowe and W. Allen in his place.
We need to be making sound national reccomendations.
ReplyDeletewhen will FAMU do mandatory drug testing on faculty and staff?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds funny, but if it was actually done we could lose at least 50% of them. Some may think that would be a good thing.
ReplyDelete7:50--wht's the scoop on the drug-testing? Has there been a problem, or is there some sort of drug use goin on at the university?
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to vote for the RATTLERS! We're still behind...
ReplyDeleteVoting ends May 11th.
http://www.sportsline.com/spin/story/10166197
10:34 stay on task.
ReplyDelete