On Thursday, state Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, suggested
that former FAMU Interim President Larry Robinson and new FAMU President Elmira
Mangum were favorable to the idea of splitting the FAMU-FSU College of
Engineering. Robinson and Mangum both took Thrasher to task for
mischaracterizing their positions.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, “Thrasher said
Robinson and former FSU President Eric Barron had been discussing the topic ‘for
a long time’ and insinuated their agreement to the plan.”
Robinson says he never agreed to any such thing.
“My position has always been that this is a bad idea,”
Robinson said. “You have what has been held up as a model of collaboration
nationwide, and here we are talking about separating it without any solid
reasons for doing it. All this talk about how Robinson and Barron agreed to it,
is really comical to me.”
Thrasher also claimed that Mangum and FSU Interim President Garnett Stokes had met and agreed to develop a “memorandum of understanding” on breaking up the joint E-College.
Mangum says that isn’t true.
FAMU spokeswoman Alonda Thomas sent an email to the Tampa
Bay Times that stated: “There was no such agreement.”
“Dr. Mangum and Dr. Stokes agreed that they need to review
the current amendment to understand its impact on FAMU if it should be
approved,” Thomas said. “They agreed that the process is not collegial and that
it is not the process in which collaboration is conducted.”