Part II: Tallahassee Democrat's look at FAMUAfter her first year as interim president, Castell Bryant published "300 Days into the Light," a book of her accomplishments.
One of her bright spots: turning down the Legislature's offer of $430,000 for five accountants to help fix Florida A&M's money-management problems.
"We knew we needed to put some financial people in place," said state Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, "or it was going to crash."
Though Lawson was vehemently criticized by FAMU supporters who considered Bryant a savior, two years later he's been proved right.
"If you questioned her, you became an enemy," said former trustee Barney Bishop, an outspoken critic of her administration.
Continue reading: Problems start at the top
with this being known, why are there trustees members who voted 4 her to become interim president, gave her a raise and bonus, and contributed to the current state of FAMU still on the board.
ReplyDeleteThis is what has needed to be said about Bryant so long ago.
ReplyDeleteto anon @ 11:36...
ReplyDeleteMY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!!!!!
they gotta go, too!
It's really sad that blackfolk in Tally allowed themselves to be duped by our own with racist/Uncle Tom accusations. Corbin, Rosey Wilson, and others claimed that anyone who felt the way Barney Bishop felt were Uncle Toms "running to massa" (quote from Wilson.
ReplyDeleteWe can't get caught up like that again. FAMUans, in all things take out the emotion and look at the facts.
This INJUSTICE should not have occurred. These folks took away valuable educational opportunities of past and future students while almost everyone with authority to act stood by with utmost disinterest, including our past and present Governors.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the DOJ statistics, in 2005 there is a high population of young African-Americans in prison, jail or under some sort of supervision. During that same period there has been fundamental changes in access to education (SEE BELOW). FAMU has failed us. They need to apologize to alumni before they send me another shiny brochure with lies.
RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- For the first time ever in the South, blacks are as well represented on college campuses as they are in the region's population as a whole -- something not yet true of the country overall.
The milestone is noted in a new fact book to be released Monday by the Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit organization that promotes education.
In the 16 states measured, the number of blacks enrolled in colleges has risen by more than half over the last decade. They now make 21 percent of college students and 19 percent of the overall population.
The number represents progress but it also has to be seen in context. A major contributing factor is the South's rapidly growing Hispanic population, which has reduced the proportion of the population that is black, and thereby made the milestone easier to reach mathematically.
And educators also stressed that the number should not obscure the persistent achievements gaps affecting blacks both in the South and nationally. In particular, black enrollment rates for college-age students, while improving, still lag well behind those of whites, as do the graduation rates of black college students.
With a college degree now almost a prerequisite for high-paying jobs, those achievement gaps pose an economic threat -- and the South will be on the cutting edge of that. In 2005 about 61 percent of public high school graduates in the South were white, the education board said, but by 2018 that figure is expected to be 45 percent.
"We've made tremendous progress, don't get me wrong," board President Dave Spence said. But, he added, unless achievement gaps narrow, "we're going to be in trouble. We already are in trouble, but we'll be in more trouble seven or eight years down the road."
The latest report may not reflect precisely what many consider the South, because the 16 states it covers also include border states Kentucky, Delaware, West Virginia and Maryland.
Still, the report reflects the reality that many more Southern blacks are enrolling in college. In those states, about 1.1 million black students were enrolled in college in the fall of 2005, 52 percent more than a decade earlier.
The increase have come largely at new and expanding public, traditionally white universities and two-year colleges rather than at historically black colleges, which for many years shouldered nearly all the burden of higher education for Southern blacks. Many of those schools still exist, but their share of black enrollment in the region has slipped from 26 percent to 19 percent over the last decade.
"We've removed a lot of the barriers and accepted that we will have to provide higher levels of learning support in the short-term," said Erroll Davis, who oversees the 33 institutions in the University System of Georgia, noting minority students arrive on campus with lower levels of college preparedness on average.
Overall, blacks represent 31.4 percent of all Georgia college students, about 1 percent higher than the proportion in the overall population. The proportion of blacks in the state university system is about 24 percent -- higher than a decade ago but still below the population as a whole.
The number of Hispanics in higher education in the South has also shot up sharply over the last decade -- by about 71 percent to about 552,000 in the region the board studied. But unlike for blacks, it remains well below the proportion of Hispanics in the region's population.
Nationally, 25 percent of Hispanics aged 18-to-24 attend college, compared to 33 percent of blacks and 44 percent of whites. That means the fastest-growing major group has the lowest college-going rate -- an alarming long-term threat to the goal of increasing the percentage of workers with college degrees.
The board's report did not calculate graduation rates for its region, but an analysis done by The Education Trust, a nonprofit group, on behalf of The Associated Press calculated the graduation rates for the 16 states in the board's report.
The analysis, which applies only to four-year colleges, found six-year graduation rates of 40 percent for blacks, 46 percent for Hispanics, and 56 percent for whites.
Nationally, the rate is 41 percent for blacks, 44 percent for Hispanics and 60 percent for whites.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
1:33-- excuse me? Folks in Tallahassee didn't "allow" themselves to be "duped." No one duped anyone. When former trustee Barney Bishop was steadily making comments regarding Castell's "style" of governance and was consistently questioning what the woman did, no one wanted to hear him say these things b/c he is white, and certainly no white man was going to come into the house and tell black folk what's up with their leader. We all knew that 99.9% of what Bishop was saying was true, but the color of the man's skin and the fact that he had the audacity to say it branded him racist and overseer. We all knew, however, that what he was aying was the truth being told. I knew it and so did other folks. Had Roosevelt Wilson (Capital OUtlook) said the same thing, we would have been much more accepting of the words simply because he is black. And we all know this.
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:16 -- Your comment is very enlightened and I'm glad you felt free to write it. We can no longer automatically criticize statements made by white folks, simply because they are white. Bishop was in a position to know what he was talking about, as was Alston, who is black and said the same type of things. Bishops comments got more publicity because he is white, and because he dared to criticize a black university, even his "own." Let's give Ammons all the help and support he needs, but lets vow to never again kill the messenger because of the color of his skin.
ReplyDeleteBishop WAS nasty in his tone, not in what he said. It wasnt what he was saying, but how he was saying it. Folks who were grinning and skinning with him were sellouts, because he didnt give a crap about anything but his own personal agenda..Get a grip, he could care less about the school. Name one thing that he has done as AIF leader since resigning to help the school...No scholarships, no donations, nothing but criticism. Fuck him and his high horse...
ReplyDeleteI’ll take Barney bishop over Corbin, Gainous and Bryant any day.
ReplyDeleteFAMU is the laughing stock of the entire SUS. FAMU is now the weakest school in the state. It was all smoke and mirrors with Humphries, and his house of cards is tumbling down now. FAMU can never repair this damage.
ReplyDeleteFAMU has been attacked by the prejudiced and ignorant for over a century and it has only strengthened her. Bush and his Republiklan flunkies did their best to destroy a great institution but they will find that we have grown stronger instead. Gov. Crist's morality and leadership will be put to the test, now. If he provides the political and financial support FAMU needs, he will be remembered as a truly great and honorable man.
ReplyDelete6:55, I never, ever said that Barney Bishop gave a crapshoot about FAMU. Re-read my comments. There's nothing in there that remotely infers that Bishop cared anything about FAMU. My point, in view of the fact that you obviously did not/do not get it, is simply this: Barney Bishop is white; the majority of FAMU's board during his tenure was black. That board wasn't going to listen to anything that man said, no matter how he said and how many times he said it. Hell, he could have whispered his words across the table for all that anyone on that board cared. Simple fact is that Barney Bishop's words were not accepted, because his skin is white. Now, you can call it what you want, but the truth of the matter is that what he said and was saying--however irritable he may have been and no matter how white his skin--folks didn't want to hear it, even though those trustess knew 99.9% of what he said was on target. Go 'head and admit it. You know it as well.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, why do you think that Barney Bishop ought to "do something" for FAMU since he's left the board? Barney Bishop doesn't own FAMU squat. Who wants anything from Bishop in the first danggone place? What are YOU doing to help enhance the university. (Cursing online, I see.)What have the others done? I don't see you arguing their case about their non-contributions to the university. Folks always think somebody "owes" them something. Do you think Challis Lowe is going to give back? Do you think the others who have resigned, quit or just got the heck up, are going to give back to FAMU? How many people sitting (s well as former sitters) are even going to remember having even sat down at the table? If you have three fingers, count them: 1,2,3. Case closed.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is the problem. People dont really care, incuding Bishop and none of the other trustees. the trustees for the other schools DO CARE about what happens beyond their own personal agenda. So, Fuck Bishop and Fuck yall too
ReplyDeleteOkay Mr. Clarence! Who's Next? (LOL)
ReplyDeleteBarney Bishop is certainly no friend of mine, but what I see here is a failure to acknowledge that the man, whatever color he is, attempted to get some clarifications on what Castell was doing and being allowed to do, carte blanche. Folks on that board didn't want the man to open his mouth, and they sat blindly by and watched the woman destroy the university. Deny this fact all you want, but we all know that Bishop was asking the questions that no one else dared to. Now, you can call it what you want, but we must call a spade a spade no matter what the color.
ReplyDelete