Still no detailed answers from Scott, BOG about 50% reduction of FAMU alumni on BOT

Neither Gov. Rick Scott nor the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) has released a detailed explanation for the recent decision to cut the number of Florida A&M alumni in the school’s appointed Board of Trustees (BOT) seats down by half. 

FAMU alumni currently only have three of the 11 appointed seats on their alma mater’s BOT, down from six last year. But Scott and the BOG have opted to continue to let alumni of the University of Florida and Florida State hold ten of the 11 appointed seats on their respective BOTs.

TyLisa Johnson, editor-in-chief of Journey Magazine, questioned the move to roll back alumni representation on the BOT shortly after Scott announced three new trustees on Dec. 18. Scott declined to select any FAMU alumni for those vacant seats, which resulted in FAMU graduates being reduced to a minority among the appointed BOT members.

“Little to no FAMU grads on [the] Board of Trustees now. Seems problematic,” she wrote on her Twitter page.

Johnson added that it is “hard to understand the history and dynamic of a university you didn’t attend.”

On Thursday Lt. Col. Gregory L. Clark, president of the FAMU National Alumni Association, said that the low number of FAMU alumni on the BOT is unacceptable. He told WCTV CBS 6 that many FAMU alumni are concerned and that he will take this issue to the Governor's Office and BOG.

Last week, the BOG dodged a question from WCTV-6 about how many FAMU alumni applied for vacant seats on their alma mater’s BOT.

“There were 32 applicants for these latest positions for the FAMU Board. The B.O.G. could not say offhand how many were graduates of FAMU,” WCTV-6 reported.