Alumni hold most seats on Howard BOT, only 2 alumni in appointed sets on FAMU BOT

Howard University has the biggest number of doctoral programs among all historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Its six-year graduation rates are also strong. The overall six-year graduation rate at Howard was 61 percent in 2015. Howard’s six year graduation rate has remained above 60 percent since at least 2009. 

The university enrolled a total of 10,002 students back in Fall 2015.

Howard has had a high quality Board of Trustees (BOT) for many years. Twenty of the 30 seats (or about 66 percent) on the university’s BOT are held by alumni.

The alumni members of the Howard BOT are Stacey J. Mobley (Chairman), Benaree Pratt Wiley (Vice Chairwoman), Innocent Akujuobi (Graduate Student Trustee), Debbie K. Allen, Larkin Arnold, Jr., Charles M. Boyd, Harold P. Freeman, Moses Garuba (Undergraduate Faculty Trustee), Godfrey Gill, Leslie D. Hale, Amy S. Hilliard, Danette G. Howard (Alumni Trustee), Stefanie Brown James (Alumni Trustee), Norman K. Jenkins, Marian Johnson-Thompson, William (Bill) "Damani" Keene (Alumni Trustee), Mark A.L. Mason, Laurence C. Morse, Kasim Reed, and Reed V. Tuckson.

Howard is a private university and its BOT gets to select its own members.

But North Carolina A&T University is an example of a HBCU where most of the BOT seats are also held by alumni. Seven of the 12 appointed seats on the university’s BOT are held by alumni. The governor of North Carolina appoints four of the BOT members and the University of North Carolina Board of Governors appoints eight. The Student Government Association (SGA) president also serves as an ex-officio member.

FAMU went from having six of the 11 appointed seats on its Board of Trustees filled by alumni in 2015 to now only two (or about 18 percent). At both the University of Florida and Florida State University, alumni hold the majority of the 11 appointed seats.

For state university BOTs in Florida, the governor appoints six members and the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) appoints five. The SGA president and Faculty Senate president serve as ex-officio members.

If the FAMU SGA president and Faculty Senate president, who are alumni, are included in the total count of FAMU trustees then the total number of alumni BOT members is still only four of 13. That’s about 30 percent.

The FAMU National Alumni Association has spoken out publicly about the problem. But so far Gov. Rick Scott and the BOG haven’t announced any intention to correct it.

No candidate in Florida gubernatorial race at this time has publicly promised to work to restore the alumni majority on the FAMU BOT, if elected.