Back on Dec. 15, 2011, Gov. Rick Scott recommended that the FAMU Board of Trustees suspend President James H. Ammons while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigated the death of drum major Robert Champion. He also called Ammons and personally suggested that the president temporarily step down. Scott said Ammons’ temporary departure would show that there was full cooperation with the criminal investigation.“I called President Ammons and I suggested that at this time, uh, that he, you know, step aside during the investigation,” Scott told reporters. “Uh, make sure that everybody is comfortable that the right things are happening there. There’s complete cooperation.”
But Orange County Sheriff Jerry L. Demings says that Ammons did fully cooperate with his investigation, which is now complete. A statement from Demings’ office thanked the Ammons administration for providing critical help to the Champion case detectives.
“This investigation could not have been accomplished without the support of the FAMU Administration and we do thank them for their cooperation,” said Ginette Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the sheriff.
Back at the Dec. 8, 2011, FAMU Board of Trustees meeting, Scott’s go-to trustee (Rufus Montgomery) failed to deliver on the task of suspending Ammons. Seven days after Montgomery dropped the ball, Scott finally went public to show that he was the real leader behind the push to remove Ammons from office.
When reporters asked Scott on Dec. 15 why he felt Ammons needed to take a leave of absence, the governor gave a long string of clumsy answers.
He said that no one had told him that Ammons was doing anything to get in the way of the investigation.
“No one’s said anything to me, that uh, there’s not been, uh, complete cooperation,” Scott said.
He also admitted that he had no evidence that Ammons had acted inappropriately.
“I’ve not seen anything to suggest that he’s done the wrong thing,” Scott said.
That evening, Student Body President Breyon Love and close to 1,200 of his fellow students marched to the Governor’s Mansion to protest Scott’s attempt to get rid of Ammons. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools warned the governor the next morning that his actions could cost FAMU its accreditation.
FAMU trustees stood up to Scott and kept Ammons in office.