Back during a Christmas party he hosted on Dec. 16, 1997,
University of Florida (UF) President John V. Lombardi called University of
North Florida President Adam Herbert an “Oreo.”
When one guest asked him what the Nabisco cookie reference
meant, Lombardi said he’d used the term to describe how Herbert, then an
applicant for the chancellorship of the State University System of Florida
(SUS), was “black on the outside and white on the inside.”
Lombardi actually used the “Oreo” term as a compliment. He said
Herbert was a potential chancellor who would be able to work with whites in a
very effective manner.
Herbert, who did become chancellor, recommended that Lombardi
keep his job despite the remark. He then turned his attention to his Three Tier
Plan proposal. The chancellor wanted FAMU to be a bottom tier “comprehensive” university
that would focus mainly on teaching undergraduate students. FAMU President
Frederick S. Humphries and then Provost James H. Ammons led the fight to create
a special “Comprehensive/Doctoral” category that permitted the university to
continue pursuing its Ph.D. expansion ambitions.
Today, Herbert’s name continues to circulate as a possible replacement
for Ammons, FAMU’s current president. The argument being used by those
interested in Herbert seems to focus on Ammons’ unpopularity with the Florida
Board of Governors (BOG). It is being said that FAMU needs a president who can get along with them.
BOG Chairman Dean Colson has stepped up his attempts to
influence the future of FAMU’s presidency by applauding the Board of Trustees after
its vote of no confidence in Ammons last week.
Herbert found out the hard way that even though he was liked
enough to be called an “Oreo,” he still wasn’t respected. The chancellor did
everything he was told to do from pushing the Three Tier Plan to endorsing Gov.
Jeb Bush’s “One Florida” plan against affirmative action. But Bush didn’t lift
a finger to stop the Florida State University (FSU) alumni legislators who
worked to disband the Board of Regents and its chancellor position. FSU
alumni were upset at Herbert and the regents for refusing to approve a
medical school for their alma mater.
The trustees leading the charge against Ammons don’t seem to
have learned anything from the Herbert years. Individuals such as Rufus
Montgomery, Bill Jennings, Karl White, and Torey Alston appear to think that if
they go along with what the governor’s office and BOG want, they will get more respect.
They regularly brag about how much political influence they have but they haven’t brought
any big private financial donations or new legislative budget items to FAMU. None of them
realize how dispensable they are to Florida’s top political officeholders any
more than Herbert did.
FAMUans can’t afford to let their university’s future be
driven by a set of people who are viewed as nothing more than tools for powers
outside the university.