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| BOG Chairman Dean Colson, BOG Inspector General Derry Harper, and the entire BOG membership joined in on the wild goose hunt. |
BOG probe initially resembled a one-sided private investigation
Back on Nov. 29, 2011 then-BOG Chairwoman Ava Parker sent
FAMU a letter stating that the board was going to investigate White’s
allegations that “he received little support despite repeatedly advising
current and former university administrators of hazing activities within the
Marching 100 band.” It did not specifically mention any intent to examine then-President
James H. Ammons’ claim about a lack of competence on White’s part.
The wild goose chase is finally over. More than a year after
Parker’s letter, BOG Inspector General Derry Harper had no choice but to admit
that the taxpayer-paid investigation into White’s allegations failed to find
any evidence to back up the ex-band director’s claims about receiving “little
help.”
“The allegation that FAMU staff failed to adequately address
complaints of hazing by former Director of Bands was unsubstantiated,” Harper
wrote.
Many FAMUans could not believe their ears when White told
ESPN that he’d never heard of the “Crossing Bus C” ritual before Nov. 19, 2011 (the day Robert Champion died).
Another embarrassment came when two Marching 100 staffers resigned after being
linked to a hazing incident involving the university’s Kappa Kappa Psi chapter.
By the time Ammons reported that 101 ineligible individuals
were on White’s Fall 2011 roster, the writing was on the wall. White finally
stopped fighting and resigned.
White could not keep his story straight
The shoes continued to drop after White parted ways with
FAMU. Former FAMU Police Chief Calvin Ross told the Orlando Sentinel in June
that White opposed his recommendation to suspend the Marching 100 before the
Florida Classic. Champion, a drum major, died after being hazed aboard a
charter bus that was parked at the band's hotel.
White had trouble keeping his story straight during his Nov.
16, 2012 interview with the BOG Office of the Inspector General (OIG) concerning
whether he supported the proposal to sideline the Marching 100 before the
Classic.
“Dr. White said he would not have brought up suspending the
Band from performing at Florida Classic because he ‘believed the guilty had
been punished.’ He explained that there were over 300 students in the Band and
it would not have been appropriate to suspend the entire group because of the
actions of a few... However, when Dr. White’s interview resumed after a brief
break, he changed his previous testimony, stating that he did recommend the
Band not perform at the Florida Classic,” Harper wrote.
Claim that Ammons received stack of suspension letters from White prior to Classic unfounded
The BOG also looked into White’s claim that he sent the
president’s office 30 letters dated November 8 and November 10 that detailed
his decision to suspend band members who were suspected of hazing. He said that
the senior administration failed to take strong action to protect the band
students after it received that information.
Ammons said he did not receive the letters until after the
Florida Classic.
“The 30 letters regarding the suspension of members of the
band were delivered in bulk Tuesday, Nov. 29. They were time stamped and
dated,” Ammons said in public statement.
The BOG report found no way to dispute Ammons’s account.
“The OIG investigation did confirm that Dr. White’s letters
were received by the administrators he copied, but that because the letters
were sent by campus mail or hand delivered, it is reasonable to conclude that
the administrators saw the letters sometime after November 19, 2011, based upon the general practices in place for handling
correspondence,” Harper wrote.
Now that the BOG is done using taxpayer money to hunt ganders
with White, it has plenty of time to figure out some even more creative options
to throw away the funds its OIG receives from the Florida Legislature.