No one could blame Elmira Mangum if she has started having second thoughts
about the FAMU presidency after the way the university’s Board of Trustees
treated her last week.
Attorneys for Mangum and FAMU came to a mutual agreement
over a proposed contract. But on Friday, board members shot down the joint
recommendation and demanded that the president-designate agree to changes in
areas such as compensation.
The trustees also took a disrespectful “our way or the highway” tone
toward Mangum by effectively giving her one week to concede to less generous
employment terms.
At this rate, it would not be shocking to see Mangum just say “no thanks”
and stay in her comfortable job at Cornell University.
But if Mangum does decide to give the FAMU Board of Trustees a
second chance (which is what a large number of students, faculty, and alumni are hoping),
she should not put her signature on any employment agreement that lacks a
“super-majority clause.”
In a potential Mangum presidency, a super-majority clause
might end up being the only thing that ultimately stands between her and a
quick exit. She was not the preferred candidate of those at FAMU who were trying
to please Gov. Rick Scott during the presidential selection process. If Scott
wins reelection this year, FAMU will soon have a very different Board of
Trustees than the one that just hired Mangum.
Current Chairman Chuck Badger (who was originally appointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist) will be the first trustee to
get kicked to the curb during a second term for Scott. Badger’s term ends on
January 6, 2015, the day of Florida’s gubernatorial inauguration. He will stand
no chance securing a reappointment if Scott retains control of the governorship
and his exit will create a vacancy in the FAMU chairmanship. Vice-Chairman Rufus
Montgomery, Scott’s top crony at FAMU and one of the loudest critics of the proposed contract for Mangum, will then immediately become the board’s
acting leader.
The term of Marjorie Turnbull, an appointee of the Florida
Board of Governors (BOG), will also end on January 6, 2015. She, similar to
Badger, has refused to be a push-over for Scott and will be gone if the
reelected governor puts enough pressure on the BOG.
There will be even more shake-ups on the FAMU Board of
Trustees in 2016 and 2017 as additional terms expire and Scott appoints more
“yes men” like Rufus.
Scott has given Mangum’s selection a cold should ever since
it was announced on January 9th. Mangum should negotiate to secure a
super-majority clause that will make it hard for a reelected Scott to push her
out of office in the early years of his possible second term.