FAMU deletes tweet sent from its official Twitter account to Tallahassee Democrat reporter

Florida A&M University (FAMU) has deleted a tweet that was sent from its official Twitter account to Tallahassee Democrat reporter Byron Dobson on March 26.

Dobson tagged the university’s official Twitter handle, @famu_1887, in a Tweet with a link to a story he had written. The story had the title: “Mangum’s moves trouble trustees, BOG member.” It discussed reactions by members of the FAMU Board of Trustees and a Florida Board of Governors member to recent actions by President Elmira Mangum.

The @famu_1887 Twitter handle tweeted him back with the statement: “@ByronDobson Thanks but no thanks! There is no need to tag us with these dark clouds! Just a reminder that when the dark clouds arise…”

The tweet from the FAMU official Twitter account appeared to be an attempt to quote the “Rattler Charge.” But the Rattler Charge really starts with the words: “When the dark clouds gather on the horizon…”

There weren’t any specifics included about which FAMU staffer sent that tweet to Dobson. But Rattler Nation ran a story in November that discussed negative reactions among FAMUans to Mangum’s regular half-hearted, misquoting of the Rattler Charge.

The @famu_1887 response to Dobson was retweeted by Florida Times-Union reporter Tia Mitchell, an alumna of the FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communication.

“FAMU’s official Twitter account @famu_1887 asked not to be tagged in local reporter’s tweeted coverage,” she wrote.

One retweet of Mitchell’s statement came from Jessica Bakeman, a Tallahassee reporter for POLITICO Florida.

The request @famu_1887 sent to Dobson asking not be tagged has now been deleted. The original link was: https://twitter.com/famu_1887/status/713886229784367104.