AD Kellen Winslow receives 6-3 “no confidence” vote from FAMU Board of Trustees

On Monday, the FAMU Board of Trustees voted 6-3 to approve the Athletics Oversight Committee’s recommendation for a motion expressing “no confidence” in Athletics Director Kellen Winslow, Sr.

Kelvin Lawson, chairman of the Athletics Oversight that gave Winslow a 3-0 “no confidence” vote on Nov. 7, introduced the motion. Torey Alston, another member of the committee, seconded it.

Lawson, Alston, Student Body President Tonnette Graham (another member of the Athletics Oversight Committee), Board Chairman Chuck Badger, Vice-Chairman Rufus Montgomery, and Spurgeon McWilliams all voted in favor of the motion. The “no” votes came from Belinda Shannon, Faculty Senate President Bettye Grable, and Lucas Boyce.

Kimberly Moore, Marjorie Turnbull, Cleve Warren, and Karl White did not take part in the conference call. Moore previously stated that she disagreed with the Athletics Oversight Committee’s decision to hold a “no confidence” vote.

Shannon said she thought a “no confidence” vote in the AD would violate the separation between the board’s role and the administration’s role.

“I think it would set a bad precedent,” she said.

She also added: “We should not put ourselves in a position to usurp [the university president’s] authority.”    

Shannon and Grable both explained that their votes against the motion should not be read as statements of support for Winslow.

McWilliams answered Shannon and Grable’s criticism by saying that a “no confidence” vote in the AD did not mean that the board was telling President Elmira Mangum who to hire or fire.

“She can do whatever she wants with that,” he said of the proposed motion. “She can put it in the bottom drawer.”

Montgomery and Lawson said their support for motion was partially a response to a recent athletics budget report that, according to their reading, shows that the current multi-million dollar deficit is getting worse.

“By my calculations, they’re saying the deficit is even larger than it was at this time last year,” Montgomery said.

Lawson agreed and stated: “We’re tracking a million dollars ahead of last year’s deficit.”

Last year, FAMU reported an athletics deficit of more than $7M.

The executive board of the FAMU National Alumni Association also approved a resolution of “no confidence” in Winslow prior to the BOT conference call.

Neither Mangum nor Winslow participated in the trustees meeting.