Rattlers express shock, disappointment about FAMU engineering crisis on Twitter

The article “Florida State Takes Hold of FAMU Engineering Purse Strings,” which was published on the website of Diverse Issues in Higher Education on Monday, has moved quickly through the Twitterverse. Numerous FAMUans on Twitter are expressing shock and disappointment about the crisis that has now made FAMU a part of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in name only.

As of the time of this blog posting, the most re-tweeted comment on the topic comes from the official page of FAMU alumna Anika Noni Rose.

“Fla State has been attempting to manhandle FAMU’s engineering program for YRS. Appears it’s finally happened. Shame,” Rose wrote in the tweet sent July 7.

Rose is a Tony Award-winning actress who earned an undergraduate degree in theatre from FAMU. She won a Disney Legend Award for her role as the voice of Princess Tiana, Disney’s first African-American princess, in 2009 movie “The Princess and the Frog.” Rose also starred in the 2006 DreamWorks Pictures movie “Dreamgirls.” Back in 2010, she was a keynote speaker for spring commencement at FAMU.

Another twitter user with the user name “Arisha” sent FAMU President Elmira Mangum a tweet asking her about the transfer of the nearly $13 million College of Engineering budget from FAMU to FSU. But at the time of this blog posting, a public answer has not appeared on Mangum’s Twitter page.

Rattlers on Twitter should continue to send questions to Mangum @RattlerinChief and FAMU Board Chairman Rufus Montgomery @rufusmontgomery about this issue. Neither individual has publicly commented about why the fiscal agent duties for the College of Engineering went from FAMU to FSU without a vote of approval from the FAMU Board of Trustees. 

FSU currently has the deanship and budget authority for the program.

Some additional tweets on the College of Engineering are below: