FB post says some lawmakers got letter saying they “overstepped” boundaries regarding FAMU

Yesterday, a post on the unofficial “FAMU Alumni” Facebook page said some lawmakers received a letter saying they had gone too far in their involvement with FAMU.

The information came from a post under the name “Shevrin Jones” in response to questions about why the FAMU alumni in the Florida Legislature weren’t doing more to speak out about the current controversies at the university.

The post included a statement that said: “I’m a member of the legislature, and a FAMU alumni. We did speak out; when we spoke out, we were all sent a cease and disses [sic] letter, stating that we had overstepped our boundaries, and we were abusing our powers.” It didn’t state who sent the letter.

Back on August 19, 2015, a number of FAMU alumni in the Florida Legislature sent a letter to the FAMU Board of Trustees (BOT) that said they wanted then-Chairman Rufus Montgomery to be voted out of his leadership position if he refused to step down on his own. The group included Rep. Alan Williams, Sen. Arthenia L. Joyner, Sen. Dwight Bullard, Rep. Mia Jones, Rep. Shevrin Jones, and Rep. Bobby Powell. Mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum also signed the letter.

WCTV-6 contacted the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. and asked it about the issue. The television station reported that: “A representative with SACS says if the FAMU Board of Trustees remove Montgomery as chair solely or largely because the legislators asked them to -- that would raise concerns. SACS is not looking into the matter at this time, but, FAMU could get a warning, probation, or lose accreditation.”

SACSCOC Standard 3.2.4 states that each member’s governing board must be “free from undue influence from political, religious, or other external bodies and [protect] the institution from such influence.”

Williams told WCTV-6 that he and the others who signed the letter made the request “as alumni, not as elected officials.”

But the authors of the letter all signed it with their elected offices listed under their names and included a statement in the letter that said: “As elected officials – all alumni of FAMU – we have a fiduciary responsibility in working with our State University System and unfortunately we have lost confidence in Trustee Rufus Montgomery’s ability to serve as chairman of the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees.”

The letter also used the official seals of the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. 

On December 16, 2011, SACSCOC President Belle S. Wheelan sent Gov. Rick Scott a letter after he tried to strong-arm the BOT to suspend then-President James H. Ammons. 

“Should the Board decide to suspend the President that is well within their role as members of the governing board,” Wheelan said in the letter. “If, however, they do so at your direction, they will jeopardize the accreditation of the University as well as its ability to provide federal aid to their students.”