FAMU UFF president questions whether administration is behind social media campaign

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An anonymous writer by the name of “Rattlers4FAMU Real Rattlers” recently started a change.org petition that asks the FAMU Board of Trustees (BOT) to grant President Elmira Mangum a contract extension.

The petition states that: “We want to send a clear message that the alumni, students, faculty, and staff of Florida A&M University are 100% behind Dr. Mangum and we believe that she should not only receive an excellent presidential evaluation but also have her contract extended by the FAMU BOT.”

But FAMU Education Professor Elizabeth Davenport, president of the FAMU chapter of the United Faculty of Florida (UFF), said that the petition is wrong to claim that it speaks for all the members of the FAMU faculty. She also raised questions about who is really behind the social media campaign that is pushing for a Mangum contract extension.

From Davenport’s comments in the May 2016 FAMU UFF newsletter:
“So imagine my surprise when I discovered that a petition calling for alumni intervention against the FAMU Board of Trustees and state legislators seeking to influence university leadership structure was on social media. Written to FAMU Acting Board of Trustees Chairman Kelvin Lawson, Higher Education Chancellor Marshall Criser III, and a number of state and federal legislators from Florida, the petition specifically calls for continuing leadership under President Elmira Mangum, who has faced criticism from board members since contract negotiations following her appointment in January 2014, and two attempts to fire her last October.”

“However, what is most troubling is that the anonymous petitioners state that they want to send a clear message that the alumni, students, faculty, and staff of FAMU are 100% behind Dr. Mangum and believe that she should not only receive an excellent presidential evaluation but also have her contract extended by the FAMU BOT.”

“Our first response is to ask who are these people and where did they come from? Our second response is to wonder if this is another social media event orchestrated by an administration that has spent more time coveting media accolades and spotlight than tending to the concerns of the University. In any event, this petition did not begin with the Faculty Senate or UFF-FAMU and is misleading in its implication that it represents the views of all alumni, students, faculty, and staff of FAMU.”

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