2014: Mangum says she’s not convinced hazing incident led to FAMU enrollment decline

The enrollment drop at FAMU didn’t start with President Elmira Mangum. But the financial losses from the continued decline in students have gotten worse since she’s been in office.

FAMU lost a total of $9.2M in tuition and fees because of declining enrollment in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014.The university then took a hit of $9.2M due to the enrollment decline in 2014-2015.

FAMU lost another $9M because of the enrollment drop in 2015-2016, after Mangum had over a year to lead recruitment efforts. FAMU expects to lose more than $9M in 2016-2017 due to its projected loss of 920 students.

Some Mangum supporters are trying to blame the enrollment decline on the negative news from the 2011 hazing death of Marching 100 drum major Robert Champion. They appear to want people to forget how Mangum herself responded to that assumption in 2014.

At a meeting the Orlando Sentinel editorial board in 2014, Mangum expressed skepticism in response to a suggestion that the Champion tragedy led to the FAMU enrollment decline. She said that the federal financial aid crisis and economic downturn were the biggest reasons that FAMU has fewer students.

A member of the editorial board asked her: “Has the university recovered after the hazing scandal, as it relates to rebounding enrollment numbers?”

Mangum answered that: “I believe that we have recovered from that, if that is the reason students chose not to come to FAMU, and I'm not really convinced that's the reason why enrollment declined...Much of it had to deal with the availability of financial aid, the economic downturn and people not being able to afford an education....I think many institutions would be challenged if that [hazing] were the reason why students chose not to come, because hazing is a problem in America — and it's a problem on most campuses. The fact that FAMU was highlighted was grave and disappointing, but it's a part of our culture at every college and institution. We do our best to make sure we have a safe environment for our students, and FAMU has done an awful lot, probably more than most colleges.”

Mangum came to FAMU in 2014 from Cornell University, where she was vice-president of budget and planning. Back when she interviewed for the FAMU presidency, she spoke about how Cornell worked to crack down on hazing and make the campus safer after the February 2011 death of George Desdunes. Desdunes, a 19-year old pre-med student from Brooklyn, died after consuming large amounts of alcohol during a Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity ritual.

Desdunes’ mother filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against SAE and a number of its members. Her lawsuit alleged that her son “was kidnapped by fraternity pledges” who then “compelled him to consume alcohol until he lost consciousness.”

But the lawyers who successfully defended the three pledges in the criminal case said Desdunes gave his consent to participate in a “mock kidnapping” ritual and that his alcohol consumption was “wholly voluntary.” They also said he had been drinking a large amount of alcohol before he agreed to take part in the ritual. 

Cornell disbanded its Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter after the incident. The enrollment at Cornell did not drop after the 2011 hazing death.

An investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office concluded that Champion “willingly participated” in the hazing ritual that left him dead. The Champion family later settled its lawsuit against FAMU for $300,000.

Mangum explained in 2014 that an overhaul to the federal financial aid program caused FAMU to lose 2,000 students from 2011 to 2013. But the FAMU Board of Trustees shouldn’t accept that as a reason for the continuing decline in enrollment since 2014. 

North Carolina A&T University is one of the HBCUs that is making steady gains in recovering from the damage caused by the federal financial aid crisis. Its enrollment increased by 1.6 percent in Fall 2014 and 1.2 percent in Fall 2015.