2007: The FAMU Year in Review

Someday, when historians sit down and write about 2007 and FAMU, most of them will simply plagiarize this list. Remember. You read it here first.

January
The being of FAMU's infamous payroll scandal was just being to come into focus, as Rattler Nation reported on Castell Bryant's administration inability to pay adjunct professors and teaching assistants.

February
After an exhaustive two-year search, FAMU trustees choose NCCU Chancellor James Ammons on February 1, by a vote of 7-6.

The vote to select Dr. Ammons was as suspense filled as they come. The vote lead the Rattler Nation to call for the resignations of the six trustees that voted against him (also see:Alumni call for changes to BoT. In the months to follow, five of the six trustees had either resigned or were not reappointed.

Pharmacy College placed on probation
As expected, the College of Pharmacy was placed on probation by its accrediting agency. The colleges' pleas for assistance were ignored by the Bryant administration.

Payroll problems worsen
And, FAMU's payroll problems continued to spin out of control as unpaid students and faculty went on strike.

March
Interim President Castell Bryant continued to conceal critical financial information from the FAMU BOT. As the Bryant administration, and former CFO Grace Ali lost total control of of the university budget. Our ability to pay employees continued to worsen and state legislators grew concerned threatening to move control of the College of Engineering budget from FAMU to FSU.

Control of Engineer School a concern
Speaking of the Engineering school, the Bryant team told legislators that FAMU is incapable of administering the Engineering School it has run for the past 25 years. Control of the Engineering school appeared to be a a done deal

And Rattler Nation continued to point out the factual inaccuracies of the Bryant administration.

April
Feed up with the constant barage of negative press and lack of responsiveness by FAMU administrators, a group of students, led by Kyle Washington began to press the Bryant administration for answers by organizing a "We Want Answers" rally, a little over 100 students turned out .

BoT supports keeping E-School
In a last minute effort, the FAMU BOT passed a resolution unaminously asking that the Legislature cease actions to transfer the budget authority of the FAMU/FCU College of Engineering from FAMU to FSU.

And, former student body president Larry O. Rivers continued to use his pen to become a important voice to advance the cause of FAMU. Rivers challenged a Democrat editorial and opined that E-School fix would do more harm than good.

Meanwhile, the House Appropriations chair sided with FAMU in E-School budget tug-of-war.

When all was said and done, FAMU retained control of the engineering school budget.

Students rake in the awards

Through all the madness of the Bryant administration, FAMU continued to excell as student's from the School of Journalism & Graphic Communications (SJGC) scored big at the Florida Associated Press Broadcasters 2007 College Awards and the Society of Professional Journalists Regional competition. FAMU journalist claimed four first place awards at the competitions. Journalism students also did well at the Hearst Awards, considered the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism.

Lawson has fun with Trustee Lowe
As the Florida Legislature moved into its final week of its 60 day session, a quick review of Senate panels which confirm appointments showed that FAMU BOT Chair Challis Lowe's name was not among those for consideration.

To save face, Challis Lowe resigned from the FAMU Board and, ofcourse Rattler Nation was the first to have a copy of her resignation letter.

Audit a mess, Bryant & Lowe clueless
State Auditors reviewed FAMU's response to its preliminary audit and determined that university didn't sufficiantly challenge any of the 35 exceptions. All 35 findings still stand.
Lowe says FAMU audit response best she's ever seen, auditors disagree.

Meanwhile, Castell holds a press conference to say that audit isn't as dire as it seems.

May

With trustees resigning left and right Jenkins also quits , Castell Bryant also saw fit to quit. Former Provost Larry Robinson was named caretaker until new president James Ammons came on board.
As we got further into the year, the payroll problem would expand to as many as 600 FAMU employees not being paid on time. Castell Bryant's response was to blame previous administrations for the problem.

And, Rattler Nation decide to give Mrs. Bryant the proper send off A Legacy of Shame!

Contracting scandal at EIT
Rattler Nation also uncovered a $4.3 million contracting scandal in EIT which caught trustees off guard. EIT chief Larry Henderson was eventually fired.

Basketball coach arrested
If things weren't already bad enough, former basketball coach Mike Gillespe was out making national news with his arrest on stalking charges.

Despite taking his team to the NCAA tournament Gillespe was eventually fired.

June

SACS slaps FAMU with Probation
On June 22, FAMU was placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which is the accrediting association that oversees the university.

How did things get this bad?
Rattler Nation and the the Tallahassee Democrat did a in-depth analysis of the events leading FAMU to one of the worst crisis in its history What went wrong?, Bush cronies cripple FAMU, and Bryant refused help and vilified critics.

Ammons confident FAMU will survive & thrive

Preach from the "Good News Bible", incoming president James H. Ammons told Floridians, "we (FAMU) will fix our problem. We will turn this around and FAMU will survive and thrive."

Governor Charlie Crist expressed confidence that FAMU and it's new administration will work through its problems.

July
President Ammons !

Dr. Ammons hit the ground running. On his first day in office he named a new leadership team and reappointed Henry Lewis dean of the College of Pharmacy.

Within a week was welcoming three new trustees and had put together a aggressive plan to get the university off of SACS probation.

Meanwhile, those who couldn't get with the program either quit or asked to leave.

And, to get FAMU back on track Ammons was out talking to the Rattler faithful and raising money.

Castell refuses to go away gracefully
In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Castell Bryant "opened up" about her FAMU experience. A bitter Bryant described FAMU students and faculty as second rate and the university as problematic.

New FAMU Communications Chief Sharon Saunders wasted little time firing back. Saunders responded quickly and affirmatively, with both barrells blazing, to negative comments made about the university by former interim president Bryant. Saunders, said Bryant "comments are disturbing considering the fact that she has had more than two years to correct the problems."

FAMU faculty honored
Despite Mrs.Bryant's comments, FAMU faculty continued to excel grabbing top honors by their peers. WANM General Manager Keith Miles was awarded a prestigious fellowship by the National Association of Broadcasters, while another J-School professor --Valerie White-- was awarded a Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship. The same week of Mrs. Bryant's comments, two FAMU professors traveled to Oxford to present papers at the Oxford Round Table. While just weeks earlier FAMU received news that one of our student's was award a Fulbright scholarship.

August
Budget cut $6 million

Florida's bleak budget picture and the university's plummeting enrollment, from the previous four years, forced FAMU, to cut $6 million from its 2007 operating budget --- $2 million, because decreased enrollment, and $4 million because of the state's poor financial condition.

September
Ammons revives recruitment program

Dr. Ammons' has revived FAMU's student recruitment program and has it kicking on all cylinders again. Since August, FAMU has held 285 student recruitment fairs and awarded more than$3.3 million in scholarships to high achieving students.

FAMU first in state to turn in finances
FAMU turned in its 2006-2007 financial statement to the Florida Board of Governors on time, becoming the first university in the state to turn in its finances. In stark contrast to past years, FAMU officials said that all records and entries on the statement could be documented and supported.

October
Castell left a financial mess
For the first time, FAMU's new administrative team discussed publicly in a BOG Task Force the dire condition of the university's books. "No bank reconciliations had been done all year, they are now being done monthly. Basic accounting procedures simply were not being performed," said new CFOTeresa Hardee.

Hardee and her team rebuilt the university's financial statements from scratch, going back 4-years to the last clean audit, matching numbers against bank statements, investment statements and state records.

SACS pleased with FAMU progress
A five-member team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools came to FAMU to interview administrators, faculty, staff and students to determine if issues such as financial mismanagement and poor governance had been fixed said they were pleased at the progress the university has made since being placed on probation.

"In the three months since receipt of the notification, FAMU has made remarkable progress," Robert Gratz, chairman of the on-site accreditation committee, said in a news release.

Starting QB quits football team
Albert Chester II, abruptly quit the Rattler Football team without speaking to his coach. Chester who had missed several practices after being replaced in the Atlanta Football Classic by 5'6" back-up QB Leon Camel called a hastily arranged press conference on the sidewalk of the Galimore-Powell Fieldhouse to announce his decision.

Chester's departure was followed by senior wide receiver Derek Williams.

FAMU leads nation in producing Black physics Ph.D.s
On average, the nation produces 15 African-American Ph.D.s in physics annually. During the 2006=06 academic year, one-third of the nation's African-American physics PhDs were awarded by FAMU.

Alumni continue to give
President James Ammons continued to make his rounds visiting with FAMU Alumni, throughout the nation visiting with Alumni from Washington, DC and the NE Region at a reception. Ammons left DC with over $45,000 from the Washington, DC Chapter.

November
FAMU honored Sen. Al Lawson at a black tie gala during homecomin. The event raised $225,000 for student scholarships and more than 800 people turned out to show their appreciation for all tha Sen. Lawson has done for the university.

100rd stares down A&T football team
The Marching 100 and the NC A&T football team had a face off on the Aggie sideline as the band was finishing up its performance by rattling off the field with 0:43 seconds left on the game clock.

Also at homecoming, concert headliner T-Pain was arrested prior to the show for suspended licenses.

FAMU researchers produce new grape
Agriculture researchers at FAMU produced a new muscadine grade be marketed as the "Majesty" grape. The grape is said to be more disease resistant and used in the production of wine, grape juice, and jelly.

We'll miss Hansel Tookes
FAMU said goodbye to legendary former coach and athletic director Hansel Tookes. Tookes, who died at age 86 is credited with creating the Florida Classic.

Speaking of the Florida Classic, after a stinging loss to Bethune-Cookman, FAMU also said goodbye to football coach Rubin Carter and athletic director Nelson Townsend, both of whom were fired.

Pharmacy grads ring up perfect score on boards
Since January of th this year 74 graduates of the FAMU College of Pharmacy sat for their professional licensure exam, and all 74 passed.

December
FAMU gets clean audit
State auditors signed off on FAMU's financial statements for 2006-2007 and noted seven areas for improvement. Giving the university its first clean audit in 3 years.

SACS extends probation
Despite substantial progress toward address concerns by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges, the accrediting agency voted to continue FAMU's probation for six months.

New AD & Coach named
December also brought FAMU a new athletic director in Bill Hayes, and new coach in former Hampton head coach Joe Taylor.