Florida reporters continue to give BOG a pass on accountability

Note: This story is part three of the Rattler Nation special report on “The Implosion of Brogan’s IG Office.”

Back when Derry Harper, former inspector general for the Florida Board of Governors (BOG), released a report that criticized FAMU for permitting ineligible students to march with its band, reporters across the state jumped to put it in the news.

Associated Press reporter Gary Fineout typed up a story that ran with the headline: “Hazing rules ignored before death at FAMU.” The Orlando Sentinel wrote “State report blasts FAMU’s effort to fight hazing before Champion’s death.” The Tallahassee Democrat published an article that said “BOG report is critical of FAMU.”

But Fineout, the Sentinel, and the Democrat haven’t made a peep about the Florida auditor general’s finding that the BOG failed to verify that Harper had the legally required eligibility qualifications for his own job.

Florida Auditor General David W. Martin blasted the BOG for “noncompliance with statutory requirements” in a quality assessment review. As part of that finding, he wrote that “Board records did not contain evidence to demonstrate that the educational background of the incumbent Inspector General met the requirements of Section 20.055(4), Florida Statutes.”

Harper resigned shortly after Martin notified the BOG of its noncompliance with that Florida law. But Fineout, the Sentinel, and the Democrat have written nothing about the auditor general’s report, even though it came out more than three months ago. They all also looked the other way when the auditor general released a 2012 operational audit that said the BOG put students at risk by failing to adopt a detailed regulation that sets specific minimum standards for anti-hazing programs at State University System of Florida schools.

Gary Fineout, the Orlando Sentinel, and Tallahassee Democrat constantly tell their readers about state reports that call for the FAMU Board of Trustees to exercise greater accountability. But they have pretended like the recent Florida auditor general reports demanding greater accountability for the Florida Board of Governors don’t exist.

What is the lurking beneath these decisions to treat the FAMU Board of Trustees and Florida Board of Governors so differently? What is behind these choices to regularly ignore critical state reports about the BOG but publicize critical state reports about FAMU? Whatever it is, it’s wrong.