Alvin Bryant, M.D., coasted to an easy victory in the FAMU National Alumni Association's presidential race runoff, beating back challenger Carolyn Jones, Ph.D., 748 votes - 412.Mr. Bryant's election deals a strong blow to Cast-hell and Low Challis, whom Mr. Bryant has constantly sparred with, sometimes publically, over the past two years.
Congrats Dr. Dryant.
ReplyDeleteWell it ain't over yet, we have filed a grievance and Altha Manning has fired Sharon Henderson and replaced her with a non-contract employee.
ReplyDeleteIt ain't over yet. Carolyn Jones could have won.
What the hell are you filing a grievance for? Jones could have won if the Alumnus wanted her to be the next NAA president but we didn't. I proudly cast my vote for Dr. Bryant.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Dr. Bryant. One down...one to go !!!!
one side note: I'm sure not sad to hear about Sharon Henderson. I hated called The OAA, knowing I had to deal specificly with her.
I hope Ms. Manning stays on. I think she's done a great job with The OAA.
Is this the same person that filed a lawsuit against Dr. Bryant during the last elections? When will this be over and people learn to lose graciously?
ReplyDeleteNo. She is not the same person that filed a lawsuit against Dr. Bryant. Members of the NAA filed a lawsuit against the UNIVERSITY because it was felt that the university was getting involved in NAA Affairs. She did contribute to the costs of filing the lawsuit as did others.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the current grievance, it is being filed by the Washington, DC Chapter because several financial members of the Chapter (especially recent young alumni) were denied an opportunity to vote due to inefficiences and ineffectiveness of the elections procedure. DC Chapter like other chapters supplied the OAA an updated list of financial members by the proposed deadline in August. However, it appears that the list was not updated and several financial members (people who paid their dues in the Spring 2006) were left off the list. The Chapter was not made aware that names were missing from the list until Jan 9. Up to this point when chapter members were reporting non-receipt of ballots it was thought they were just lost in the mail.
Throughout the voting process, the Chapter had to continually call to request ballots and in both phases of the election, ballots were received the day before the cut-off October 14 and January 12 the day before ballots were to be counted and after the said postmark date. Although the requests for ballots were made 3-4 weeks before.
In the grievance about 10% of the chapter population of 185 members reported non-receipt of ballots for various reasons.
The Chapter asked that the election results not be certified until this group is allowed to vote (will not change outcome, but does not disenfranchise and disenchant our hard-working alumni). The Chapter also asked that the NAA offer a written apology to the Chapter and to the persons named in the grievance. Lastly, the Chapter asked that the NAA discuss how it plans to improve the process. The Chapter has not asked for a re-election or anything like that.
Washington, DC Chapter is a very well-run professional chapter that has members who are very active and engaged. We expect professionalism and courtesy from our organization and the Office of Alumni Affairs. We expect that when mistakes occur that they be remedied in a timely fashion. We expect proper oversight of the election process be given by the Elections Committee.
Several instances involved changes of address that occurred during the election cycle. Address changes were reported, however, it took 1 month to get new ballots to persons--at a time where it was no longer feasible to get a ballot in. Why the delay?
Also, several of the election mailings did not have the ballot enclosed. This was reported to the NAA, but no attempt was made by our organization to alert our members to this mishap and to suggest an alternate means of casting their vote. After repeated attempts a person finally received a ballot on Jan 9, the day the ballot was to be postmarked and in the NAA Post Office Box. However, they informed the NAA of this problem on Dec 4.
As alumni, we pay $35.00 per year to this organization and what do we get? We do not get any communication and then we are denied an opportunity to vote. If the Election Chair and the Executive Board received their ballots in a timely fashion, why couldn't members in the DC Chapter receive this same right?
Stop taking items that are about policies and procedures and trivializing them and making them about people. When we do that, people think there is not a problem.
Dr. Jones is a very professional and capable individual and the grievance of the chapter is not about her winning or losing. The grievance was filed before the vote count and when this past week the chapter had decided they had had enough of the nonsense.
Unlike the NAA, the DC Chapter believes in democracy. As a member of our Chapter Executive Board we all had the opportunity to vote whether we wanted to go forward with this grievance and the CHAPTER filed the grievance on behalf of OUR MEMBERS and their rights which were violated.
Every time we have an election there is a problem---we have ineffective workers, an Election Chair that is not trying to update and improve the procedure.
FAMUans deserve better and the people in DC have no problems demanding professionalism from our organization. We encourage the rest of you to start asking "what has the NAA done for you lately and what has it really done for the university lately?
I now understnd the issue that is beeing lodged by the DC chapter, but I have a feeling there are personal feelings involved in this. There should be corrections to the process but I do not believe that the certification of the election should be delayed when this won't affect the result of the race. I also never received my ballot (a Bryant supporter) although I requested it, but it appears the blame is really beeing laid at Dr. Bryant for not doing enough to fix the University's ineptness. In fact, I called Dr. Bryant and he redirected me to others becuase he did not want to be involved in the process. Nonetheless, what the DC chapter is attempting to do is destructive and just delaying the inevitable.
ReplyDeleteIf the DC
Altha Manning is a retired person which I thought was in charge of the local chapter of the AARP. What is she doing at FAMU? She has made her mark at DOE and DLES. It is difficult to believe she can relate to this new generation of Alumni and university supporters. She needs to catch the first motor smoking existing the campus.
ReplyDeleteTO: Dr. Alvin Bryant, President FAMU National Alumni Association
ReplyDeleteFAMU NAA Executive Board Members
FAMU NAA Nominations and Elections Committee
FROM: Dr. Janine Batie-Derricotte
President, Washington, DC Chapter
RE: ELECTION GRIEVANCE
DATE: January 11, 2007
On behalf of the Washington, DC Chapter members of the National Alumni Association (NAA), I am lodging this complaint and grievance against the current election that is underway. Several financial members have been disenfranchised by the National Alumni Association and this is unacceptable to us.
Since the beginning of the election season, our Chapter has been in discussion with the Office of Alumni Affairs (Ms. Sharon Henderson) and the National Alumni Association Nominations and Election Committee(N&E) (Condra Magee and Demetral Wester) regarding non-receipt of ballots by financial members of our organization. We believe the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the personnel and procedures of this organization are to blame.
Here is a detailed history of the problems encountered and sequence of events.
By August 31, 2006, the Washington, DC Chapter as instructed by the NAA provided the Office of Alumni Affairs an updated list of 2006 financial members. Our Chapter Financial Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Chair worked to compile and review the list for accuracy and to update addresses. Our membership on August 10, 2006, via voicemail, was provided instructions as to the last day to pay and to be eligible to vote, as well as, how to update addresses with the chapter. This updated list was provided to Sharon Henderson by the deadline.
The middle of September our membership was informed via email that ballots had been received in the Washington, DC area and if a ballot had not been received, members should contact the Chapter Membership Chair. Several members reported non-receipt of ballots and this was reported to the OAA, NAA and the Nominations & Elections Committee.
Initially, Ms. Henderson stated to our Membership Chair she was not involved in the election process. Ms. Henderson was informed by our Membership Chair that her name was on the correspondence as contact person. When it became apparent that several names were missing, our Membership Chair sent to Ms. Henderson an electronic version of the 2006 Financial Membership List (which she received earlier by hard copy before the August 31, 2006 deadline). Communications were sent periodically to Ms. Henderson to request ballots. Ms. Henderson then instructed our Membership Chair to email names and addresses directly to Modern Mailers. After all of this, everyone received their ballots on Saturday, October 14, 2006. However, the postmark date was Sunday, October 15. Why were the ballots held and not mailed as requests were received?
Several financial members contacted our Membership Chair after the October 15th deadline requesting ballots. They were informed by our Membership Chair that it was too late; however, our Membership Chair made a list of members who had reported not receiving ballots for the first phase of the election.
When we went into the run-off phase of the election cycle our membership was again informed that ballots were received in the DC area the first week of December. Members were again instructed that if a ballot was not received to contact the Membership Chair. At our December chapter meeting on December 2, 2006, General Leroy Bell informed the chapter he had received the mailing but a ballot sheet was not enclosed. Also, during the December meeting a list was circulated for members who had not received a ballot and several members signed. This list was confirmed against the chapter financial list for accuracy.
The Nominations & Election Committee and the Office of Alumni Affairs were notified of this situation on December 4, 2006. A ballot was requested for Leroy Bell. He received a ballot finally via email on January 9, one month after informing the OAA that he had not received an appropriate mailing. Throughout December (December 5, 6, 14 and 19) there were several communications to the N&E Committee requesting that ballots be sent to financial members in the DC Chapter. On December 5, it was reported to the N&E Committee that Mr. and Mrs. James Guyton, Life Members of the organization and DC Chapter members had moved and a new address was supplied to mail a ballot. Mr. Guyton received his ballot on January 11 with a postmark date of January 8, 2007.
It was assumed that ballots were mailed to these individuals. On January 2, 2007, one of the affected members, Dr. Kendra Worthy, informed the Membership Chair that she still had not received a ballot. Dr. Worthy was put in touch with a member from the Nominations & Elections Committee and they corresponded directly. On January 5, Dr. Worthy and the Membership Chair were informed that the ballots were not sent. Dr. Worthy and the Membership Chair received an apology and were told that the impacted individuals would be sent ballots electronically. Email addresses were sent to the Nominations & Elections Committee Member on January 8 for the affected parties.
On the afternoon of January 9, Dr, Kendra Worthy and our Membership Chair were informed that she and the others would not receive a ballot because their names were not on the Office of Alumni Affairs 2006 financial list. Why were three weeks allowed to pass without notification of a problem? Better yet, why was the DC Chapter list not updated although on two occasions the OAA was supplied a copy of the accurate DC Chapter list? Why in September when it was apparent names were missing, why was this not addressed? Our Membership Chair was instructed to take the matter up with the OAA and Ms. Demetral Wester which was done.
Chapter documentation that showed that these persons were financial including statements that supplied check number, members’ names, date paid, etc., were supplied to the OAA on January 9. Still no affirmative decision was made to add their names to the official list, to expedite ballots and to count their ballots.
The persons who were denied an opportunity to vote did not pay on the tail end in August but had actually paid their dues during the months of March, April and May. Furthermore, several of these persons were recent graduates. What message are we sending them about the FAMU National Alumni Association and how it conducts its affairs? Some of these persons have been financial members of the DC Chapter for the past 4 years. Why were their names not on the list?
The lack of willingness of the persons involved with the election process to problem-solve when it became apparent that some persons had received a faulty mailing or no mailing is unacceptable. There was no attempt to communicate alternate instructions to the membership and no desire to accommodate financial members so they could vote.
The idea that it is OK to disenfranchise financial members is not acceptable to the Washington, DC Chapter and it should not be acceptable to anyone who cares about the affairs of this organization. We cannot continue to operate as an organization that hears the voice of a chosen few. We in Washington, DC will not continue to affiliate or pay dues to an organization that does not respect us or our voice.
We are asking that the election results not be certified and accepted until all of the financial members of the Washington, DC Chapter that were documented as requesting ballots be allowed to cast their vote.
We the members of the Washington, DC Chapter are asking for a formal written apology from the Florida A&M University National Alumni Association to the Washington, DC Chapter that delineates plans to improve the election process. Furthermore, we are requesting that personal letters of apology be written to all of our financial members who were not allowed to vote due to the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of our processes. Their names and addresses are attached and nothing less than this is acceptable to us.
Question, who is the membership chair of the DC Chapter and why didn't he make sure that this list/information was corrected by the office of alumni affairs after the first election and before the run-off.
ReplyDeleteSecond question, if this list/information was sent directly to the OAA, how does this imply that the NAA did something to prevent these members from voting if the mix-up was with the OAA. Didn't the NAA use the information that was provided by the OAA, which was provided by the DC chapter?
Finally, from reading this post, it seems that if this guy resent the list/information in after corrections were made, then it is safe to say that he sent the incorrect list/information in the first time around? And if so, why isn't he being held responsible for sending in incorrect the list/information.
Also, I noticed that this grievance was filed on January 11 just two days prior to the counting of ballots. Why didn't the DC chapter file a written complaint as soon as this became an issue. Right now it seems like sour grapes.
I with the poster at 1/14/2007 2:52 PM. When will we learn to bow out graciously after a lost? The vote count isn't even close to demand a recount.
A grievance is a request for action. The NAA can certainly have a teleconference and deny the Chapter's request. If they desire to honor our request to allow these persons to vote, they can call them on the phone and ask how they vote, ask them to submit their vote by email and add their votes to the prospective totals and move on. We are asking that their desires be reflected in the final count. We are not asking that the whole chapter votes again, we did not ask that ballots at this time be sent. We asked an opportunity to register votes before officially accepting the final elections. The elections are not officially accepted until the Winter Meeting and the General Body report that gets accepted at that time. The NAA has a whole week to resolve this. The NAA can choose to say that these votes would not effect the outcome and therefore it is no need to have them vote.
ReplyDeleteThis is no different than a real election where you have the people that vote on election day and all of the absentee ballots that have to be counted. The vote is not official until the absentee ballots are reflected. If the spread between candidates is so wide for instance 50,000 and you only have 15,000 absentee ballots you can certify the election without counting the ballots because there is no impact. The bigger issue is the acknowledgement of mistakes and an apology to our chapter for disenfranchising them.
I remind you that this grievance was sent before the ballots were counted.
That is your personal decision not to vote. Please do not tell us that it is OK not to vote. Voting is important to some of us and we want the same rights exercised by all.
This action will not delay any of the business of the association. Dr. Bryant is still the President and can carry-on.
There is nothing destructive about what we are asking. Our NAA needs to understand democratic processes and how to solve problems.
These are NAA elections and we have the ultimate responsibility. We have responsibiities for oversight and ensuring that the process works. The NAA was aware of the problems and the election chair had the opportunity last week to get ballots to our members as soon as possible and ensure that they were counted. The election committee could have given these people an opportunity last week to vote email.
The Election Committee did not state to our chapter if you show supporting documentation that these persons are financial, that we will do thus and so to capture their vote. If this approach were taken last week, there would have been no need fo a grievance. We were told that there name was not on the list, we can send them ballots but if there name is not on the list, they will not be counted. What kind of double-talk is that. All the election committee had to say was provide documentation and we will make sure their ballots are counted. We probably cannot
Please do not speak for us and try to interpret our thoughts. The action is not directed at an individual. We wanted our rights as members of this organization and our organization failed us by not responding and trying to give these persons an opportunity to vote. You did not participate in the discussions of our chapter, you have not been at any of our meetings where we discussed the election process throughout.
YOU are trying to spin a concern into a personal attack which it is not.
We were told that there name was not on the list, we can send them ballots but if there name is not on the list, they will not be counted.
ReplyDeleteWhat list are you referring to and who decides who is placed on this list?
Are you saying that people on the election committee removed people from this list?
This is messed up! How can people just remove people from the list and decide that they can not vote?
ReplyDeleteDear 5:39--For a whopping $35 per year, what do you expect? You get what you pay for. End of story.
ReplyDeleteIt is obvous you cannot read...
ReplyDeleteThe DC Chapter did not ask for a re-count or re-doing of an election. We asked that the votes of these people be reflected in the final count. If 8 of them want to vote for Dr. Bryant and 2 for Dr. Jones, then you would add 8 and 2 to their respective final counts. In addition we asked for an apology.
The DC Chapter provided an accurate list to the OAA by August 31 by the deadline. This list was compiled with the efforts of our membership chair, financial secretary and treasurer. In Phase I of the election when it appeared that some members had expressed not receiving a ballot, the membership list was sent AGAIN. Obviously there was no attempt to update the list by the NAA/OAA. There were many emails between the chapter and the OAA and NAA throughout the process.
When we reached the run-off several names were sent in before the holidays requesting ballots be sent because they had not been received. A few members had also moved during this time period and their new addresses were supplied to get them ballots as well. The Chapter found out January 4 the ballots were not sent as everyone thought. There was then an effort to send ballots, but there was no assurance that they would be counted or added to the total. Then we were told that some of the people were not on the official list on the afternoon of Jan 9. This was the first we heard that names that had been submitted 3 weeks before were not on the list. Again, although the list was supplied twice to the OAA, obviously no one took the time to look at or update the OAA list. At that time all we wanted was to be able to show the proper documentation that these persons were indeed financial, that they be supplied some type of mechanism to vote and that their vote be registered. However, it was not confirmed to our chapter that all parties would work to make this happen.
Up to this point we were feeding information in and hoping the process was working and that ballots were being sent. After it was not confirmed that ballots would be counted we began discussions in our chapter. On Thursday, we received a call from one irate DC member that they received their ballot on January 11 postmarked Jan 8; although this person gave a change of address to the OAA on Dec 5. On January 12, another DC alumnus received a ballot electronically although she had requested a ballot in Dec. They both were quite upset that their vote would not be counted.
We have responsibilities as leaders to protect the rights of our members. In Washington, DC, we take this seriously. Many of the people who did not receive ballots were active members---Executive Board members, large financial donors to the chapter. How can we go out and effectively recruit when we do not respect our members? Should we have told these people who took the time to register their concern, Oh well. Should we have told them there are some other alumni that did not get ballots as well? I don't think they wanted to hear that. Our chapter members hold their Executive Board accountable. We in turn hold our NAA & the OAA accountable.
Why the delay? For us in Washington, we had experienced enough. January 11 the grievance was written and our Executive Board had to vote to go forward. Up to that point we had tolerated the situation but when people are receiving ballots the day before the election with no commitment to count the ballot, that was the straw that broke the camels back.
We worked hard to try to get our people ballots and expected all parties involved to work with us to make sure any financial member who wanted to vote was able to do so. Is that asking too much? Is it asking too much that when mistakes are observed that we work hard and expeditiously to correct? Is it too much as a financial member of the organization to ask for the opportunity to cast your ballot like everyone else? That is all our members asked for.
The procedure in the OAA did not provide for a final view of the list by chapters to check the data entry work. However, hindsight is 20/20 and if we thought there would be a problem, we would have asked to see the final list. According to the NAA documents, the Financial Secretary is to certify the membership list. The question should be did the Financial Secretary or any one check the work of the person in the office against what was provided to them? Hindsight is 20/20 and all chapters should have asked to see their final list compiled. I am sure we are not the only chapter where people were probably missed. We are just the only one, I guess who believes in following policies and procedures and good business practices within an organization. The only chapter that believes that when mistakes are made that they be addressed and corrected and the appropriate apologies forthcoming.
We do not want to make accusations of someone deliberately removing someone from the list. We choose to believe that no one checked the accurate chapter list against the membership list that was being held/created in the OAA. The whole purpose of sending chapter lists in was to have an accurate list and to check against the existing list. We all understand human error. However, we expect when errors occur that people take responsibility to correct those errors.
ReplyDeleteSo have you asked for an apology from the OAA as well?
ReplyDeleteIn this scenario, I think the OAA is basically supporting the NAA in its elections. I would hope that an apology be forthcoming from all. These are NAA elections and the OAA in this case takes its lead and works for the NAA. At any time the NAA through its elections committee should tell the OAA how to handle the problem. Since it is the NAA Elections and the ultimate responsibility is with the Nominations & Election Committee to conduct the elections using whatever vendor or mechanism, I think the apology comes from the NAA. If the NAA instructs the OAA as its vendor to also apologize that is fine. Just one person's opinion. I do not know what the chapter thinks in this regard.
ReplyDeleteIs the DC chapter the only chapter that faced such problems? If so, then it sounds like something else is going on with the DC chapter. If not, then, have any other chapters had similar problems? And, have any other chapters filed a grievance?
ReplyDeleteWhy is an apology so very important?
Sounds like the DC is full of itself. Sounds like this chapter has sour grapes because this chapter wanted Carolyn Jones to win and she didn't. Again, notice I say "sounds like", I don't really know, but I've heard about some of the problems with the DC chapter. Seems like there are a lot of fairly recent FAMU graduates in the chapter who don't seem to understand that with experience one normally gains wisdom. Additionally, I've heard this chapter doesn't respect anybody who didn't graduate in the 80s or 90s. Well, FAMU has been around for more than a century. And, just because you are young and black does not necessarily mean you are gifted. Pun intended. Throw your sour grapes out the window and support Dr. Al Bryant. He won. Fair and square. Better luck next time.
ReplyDeleteBesides, regardless of the hype in DC; no, the solar systme does not revovle around Washington,DC. And, no DC is not "the most important city in the most important country in the world." It's just the capital city of the most rapacious and greedy civilization in human history. That's all it is. Get a grip DC Chapter. You're no better nor any worse than any other FAMU
Alumni Chapter. How arrogant of you to demand an apology. Come on, mistakes are a part of life. Get a grip. This is not Alice in Wonderland. This is the real world. Deal with it. Grow up. And, despite the commercials; no, in the real world, you cannot have it all DC Chapter. Stop the whinning and grow up. Tell Carolyn to run again. Maybe she can win, if she realizes that the FAMU Alumni Association is not run by the DC or any other specific chapter.
The personal attack against Altha Manning was both unwarranted and tacky. It is a classic example of an ad hominem argument, where you attack the person, instead of the person's ideas, actions, or behavior. Tacky. Tacky. Tacky. Stop hurling ugly, irrational attacks against other Black people publically. Grow up.
ReplyDeleteYour comments are a disgrace to Black people and FAMU simultaneously!
The election is over, and Dr.Bryant won. That's it; case closed. All this garbage about apologies and grievances is so very sophomoric. Those of you in the DC chapter who wanted Carolyn Jones to win, should try again next time. She lost. Let it go! Life goes on, with or without Caroyln Jones and the DC Chapter of the FAMU Alumni Association.
ReplyDeleteSounds like we are in for an interesting Winter Meeting. Again!
ReplyDeleteWhatever happens, there are certain things we need to do:
1. We need to find a way to utilize technology to conduct the election. A product such as Survey Monkey is an effective way to conduct polls, and I think it (or a number of similar online products) could easily be used to conduct an election. Of course, not everyone communicates via the web, so there would have to be an accomodation for those alumni.
2. Respect the grievance. In the end, the results of the election may not change at all, but after the farce national election in 2000 that brought us George W. Bush, Black Floridians (& FAMUans) know better than most that every voter, in this case an active member of the NAA, has a right to a ballot, and to have their vote counted. However, if the grievance is ultimately accepted, every eligible voter from every chapter who did not receive a ballot should be counted as well, in my humble opinion.
3. Resist the temptation to disrespect fellow Rattlers just because you disagree with them. None of us have a greater claim to FAMU's legacy than the next, and what year you graduated is not important at all, only that you graduated.
4. Resist the temptation to "take my ball and go home," or to tell someone else to "take your ball and go home." The NAA is a voluntary organization, and just the fact that people pay dues, attend meetings, and are interested in FAMU should be enough for them to have a voice.
There was about a 4-month delay before the last NAA election was certified, which included a lawsuit against the university by the NAA. Maybe this is just how we roll, but there is no reason that we can't do better.
Please tell me who is Altha Manning?
ReplyDeleteEven in America not every vote is counted. Ballots are lost in the mail and individuals are turned away from the polls. There is no such thing as 100% voter turnout and 100% of the votes are counted. At least with the NAA we have a better record of sending out the ballots and of counting the votes.
ReplyDeleteMy undertanding of this whole orchestrated mess was that the chapter membership chair refused to comply and submit these concerns in writing to the chair of the election and nomination committee as instructed and as the complaints occurred. Repeat, as they occurred. My undertanding is the chapter membership chair was also a candidate during the runoff.
I find it quite disturbing that this type of activity is going on within the alumni association and that some of the same people are involved, like Leroy Bell and Carolyn Jones, again.
Carolyn Jones and her supporters called folks like me and asked if we would support her in her bid for president. I really didn't appreciate her call and became pissed off when she had the gall to ask me who I voted for. Leroy Bell came to my soror's chapter and asked for their support and bad mouthed Dr. Bryant. This is not the way to get support.
The older generation of FAMCee and FAMU graduates do not appreciate the tone and attitudes of people like these trying to tear down the people they are competing against. All we have been hearing is that it's time for a change and out with the old people. I would never vote for someone who don't respect the contributions of the older generations. We are the people that the office of alumni affairs calls when they need quick money, but then the university refuses to acknowledge our contributions or send us a thank you note. Last year, when I made a contribution to the alumni association campaign, I got a thank you note.
As an exectuive assistant most of my life, I don't have much but I contribute regularly to FAMU and the alumni association. Many of us are just fed up with the lack of respect some of you young people are showing us and the lack of respect given to those that have been elected to lead, like Dr. Bryant.
My children and grandchildren attended FAMU and what I am hearing from my grandchildren about a change and out with the old and in with the new is just plain ole disrespectful.
When some of you folks start talking about old people without technology, email, and a computer and needing to go somewhere and sit down, remember you might be talking to one of your peers that have old parents and grandparents that made it possible for them to attend and graduate from FAMU. We are all in this together and we should work together and support each other not tear each other down. NOw Dr. Bryant has been elected fair and square. We all should get behind him and support him 100% and not like the last term. There was just too much back-bitting the first time around and sabotaging. He is the leader elected 3 or 4 times. Let's support him. And thank you grandson for waking up so early and entering this on the computer.
The election is over, and Dr.Bryant won. That's it; case closed. All this garbage about apologies and grievances is so very sophomoric. Those of you in the DC chapter who wanted Carolyn Jones to win, should try again next time. She lost. Let it go! Life goes on, with or without Caroyln Jones and the DC Chapter of the FAMU Alumni Association.
ReplyDeleteWell said.
If Dr. Bryant were a member of the D.C. Chapter, would the chapter still protest the election?
ReplyDeletefamu or famuinfightingu......how can anyone take this university serious when all the university does is fight and call each other names? have you forgotten about educating the students?
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous who posed the question who is Altha Manning, you are obviously not a FAMUAN so as the ole saying goes, "If you haven't heard, then you weren't suppose to know."
ReplyDeleteShe's a temp just like CastHell.
ReplyDeleteTo the person who is providing second hand knowledge of the situation there are a slew of emails to the OAA and NAA provided by the Chapter and by the NE Member-At-Large discussing ballots not being received. There is a very complete paper trail throughout the process communicated to the N&E Committee. The N&E Chair does not have vmail or email and who has all day to play phone tag? There is an extensive paper trail from several persons asking that candidates be provided ballots starting from September through January. How much more documentation do you want?
ReplyDeleteWe have very good practices in DC. Our financial secretary collects the money and prepares the list. The treasurer prepares the list and sends the money to the alumni office per their format. The membership chair and the Corresponding Secretary update the addresses. All four of these persons worked diligently in preparing this list. The President hand delivered a correct list to the Office. A second correct list was emailed.
I guess several years ago when Florida had the debacle in South Florida, people should have just said "Oh Well." Injustice whether in the alumni association or in the state of Florida is wrong and we should never accept it. If we took your viewpoint, Blacks would still be slaves in this country. Just going along to get along. Taking the easy way out.
In the Washington, DC Chapter we work hard for FAMU and the alumni association. We expect a certain level of service. We are concerned about inefficiencies, but more important was the lack of response when a problem surfaced to work with the chapter to get members ballots. The problem was easily solvable and was not solved.
Let's face it we only have 3000 financial members out of an alumni pool of 60,000. We graduate 2000 new alumni every year. We cannot afford to disengage nor disenfranchise people who want to participate. That is why the apology is important. We do not want any of our alumni so upset and disheartened because there organization was not interested in hearing their voice.
Isn't this what we see in our students? Some thing happens on the campus, lost paperwork, delay in financial aid, etc and students walk away mad. It takes years to get people back to supporting the university. Our concern is not about arrogance and we think we are all that. Our concern is the lost revenue to the NAA, the lost enthusiasm and desire to work. One of the persons who did not get a ballot was the largest financial contributor to our chapter scholarship. Another was our scholarship gala chair who raises over $15,000 a year for the chapter. Another person was the Asst Membership Chair. How can we expect these people to go out and work with the same zeal as before noticing that their organization who they work so hard for did not allow them to vote nor did not apologize for mistakes made? When we don't apologize matters fester and people just walk away. These people are important to the fabric of our chapter and we want them to continue to work. The apology would certainly help us to move forward positively.
As a member of the DC Chapter we would still be upset if Dr. Jones won. Do not assume that everyone in DC would have voted for Dr. Jones, just like everyone in VA did not vote for Dr. Bryant.
As far as sending phone messages that is a strategy for voting. All candidates send unsolicited information to voters via mail, email and phone. Maybe Florida is just behind the times.
As far as young vs old, young people are frustrated that no room is being made at the table for them. No one wants to hear their ideas and new and improved ways of doing things. We keep holding on to the same old same old that is killing our university and killing our alumni association.
The whole idea of an education is to use your brain to improve and advance the human existence. At FAMU we resist because we are afraid to be left behind and afraid of things we do not understand.
Young people want to come in and contribute. Unfortunately our elders have a tendency to run them off because they are afraid of losing control. The world has changed and the requirements and expectations of people have changed. The way we do things will not attract people and if we do not change our ways our organization will die. It is stagnant. There is no growth and if our elders don't wake up and stop hating on young people the NAA will die.
As a person who is familiar with Washington, DC and their operations, I was a strong supporter of Dr. Jones' leadership. They have had a tremendous amount of success as an alumni chapter and many of us were very curious how they were able to do it painlessly and efficiently.
ReplyDeleteThe Chapter has 20% of their available alumni pool financial. No other chapter can say that. Although Leon County is the largest chapter with over 300 members, they have a 7000-8000 alumni pool. Only 5% of the available alumni join.
Furthermore, when you go to a DC event (picnic, meeting, gala, hospitality suite), you see all ages from 80+ to 22 in attendance and working side-by-side. With most of our chapters, we are either predominantly young or predominantly old.
The Washington, DC Chapter is one of the few chapters that has successfully engaged their currently enrolled students. The Chapter funds their campus group DC Metro Club, they have an activity every year for freshman and their parents, they interact and service parent needs throughout the year, they have a holiday gathering with students, parents and alumni. They were telling me that an alumnus is made before a student sets foot on the campus and they believe it is important to have a relationship with students throughout so they would feel comfortable joining the alumni association upon graduation.
The chapter sponsors play groups, athletic trips and the list goes on and on. They even send you a card if you are sick, had a death in the family, received a promotion on the job, added to the family, etc. Any life event financial or non-financial alumnus if they hear about it they acknowledge it.
Many of us who hear about the good works of this chapter wanted the opportunity to hear these practices and roll them out throughout the association.
All of my friends who live in the area enjoy their affiliation with the chapter and the activities. I believed they were a good model of what an alumni chapter is supposed to do.
I have had the opportunity to meet Dr. Jones on several occasions. She has always been pleasant, I have never sensed pettiness, but realized she was a serious person about business; very detailed oriented and very professional. She has always been consistent in the viewpoints expressed and that is that we follow policies and procedures and be professional. I happen to agree with that philosophy.
Unlike some of you who choose to believe the negative about the election, I support the position of the chapter that an apology is appropriate. I do not see it as a big deal.
To the poster above, when all else fails there is snail mail. Did you guys send the N&E chair communication by snail mail? I am not taking sides, but when all else fails it's good to have things in writing, especially to the person who has been put in charge, i.e., the chair of the N&E. So if you have done that you guys have nothing to worry about.
ReplyDeleteQuestion, what is it exactly that is being requested through this grievance? Please keep it short. Some of these posts are too long.
1/16/2007 11:47 AM
ReplyDeleteHow dare you try and point out insufficiencies in the Leon Chapter. All chapters are lacking when it comes to the recruitment of alumni including the DC chapter. But I am sure it just a few of you people that are about to give the DC chapter a bad rep.
BTW, Alvin Bryant was an active member of the DC chapter for 25 years. Have you all recognized him for his commitment to the NAA and your chapter.
Get over yourself. Many of us are young, but we are not stupid.
From what I'm reading, it seems that there are folks (in DC) who think that the responsibility of keeping up with changes of addresses/contact information (when they're not sent in), or when a (dues) check is sent in late, etc. ultimately fall on the NAA. It makes me sick to my stomach when irresponsible negroes try to blame their shortcomings on other people, then hope that the masses will buy it. Y'all need to grow the hell up and get a life. Nobody in the NAA is going to co-sign your inability to be the responsible human being that your so-called college educated asses are suppose to be. If you missed the vote, then hold yourselves accountable for keeping yourself up to date in every respect with your local chapter and the NAA.
ReplyDeleteAnd, $10 will get you $20 that these are the SAME kind of people who can't pay bills on time, can't get anywhere on time, alway late with everything, then want to blame everyone else. GROW THE HELL UP!!!!!
This grievance will go nowhere.
The problems with the ballots should be directly attributed to the inefficiencies of the Office of Alumni Affairs. THEY control when the correspondence goes out.
ReplyDeleteThe NAA can ask all they want, but in the end, it happens when someone in that office gets off their butt and gets it done.
I didn't get my ballot on time in August, and I contacted the OAA, only to find out that they still had my address from my old place. I know for a fact that they had my new address, because I sent it myself, along with the list of other chapter members late July.
Not meaning to go anywhere near the DC Chapter issues, but it only speaks our needing to be able to control everything that comes out of that office.
We don't work for them, they work for us.
Not meaning to go anywhere near the DC Chapter issues, but it only speaks our needing to be able to control everything that comes out of that office.
ReplyDeleteWe don't work for them, they work for us. 1/16/2007 2:22 PM
This ain't nothing but the gospel. We need to be able to control our own finances and paperwork.
2:02 pm you do not know what you are talking about. Nothing was sent in late. Obviously you are not an active member because if you were you would know that chapters send in information monthly. So nothing was sent in late and yes we expect people to do the job they are hired to do.
ReplyDeleteCertainly there were problems with mailing, but that was not the only problem. Many of you do not realize that if you asked the NAA to show their election procedures and process, there are none. We make them up as we go along. So when there is a problem, there is no procedure to help you through the problem and there is no one assigned to solve the problem.
I wonder what happens on your job. We have all kinds of procedures for the operation of our company. The NAA is a 501 c 3 business and should have procedures in place for all of its major processes. Elections are considered a major process of an organization. For those of you who belong to other organizations do you have processes for elections? Even the students on campus have an election procedure. The NAA does not.
It is interesting how many people do not understand the relationship between the Office of Alumni Affairs and the National Alumni Association. The Office of Alumni Affairs works for the President of the University and the BOT. It does not work for the NAA. The Office of Alumni Affairs maintains the database for the NAA and houses our documents. They do not work for the Alumni Association nor take direction from the Alumni Association. They can assist us in our efforts when asked and when it is appropriate to do so. The persons in the OAA have responsiblities well beyond the scope of the NAA.
ReplyDeleteYou will always have problems in mailing and persons' names not being on the list. However, when that happens what is the NAA procedure to address this? Who makes the call to add a name to the list if it is missing? What is the procedure? Who should the documentation be sent to? That is not the call of the data entry person or the OAA? Who from the organization actually certifies and looks at the final list? Who from the NAA has oversight of all aspects of the election to ensure it is carried out to our organization's expectations? These are all items that would be delineated in a standard operating procedure and this is one of the areas that the NAA needs to spend more time on. Creating infrastructure.
When Dr. Alvin Bryant wanted to handle our business you all punked out and wanted to keep the OAA lifeline. Well too late to cry foul now. Maybe he saw this coming.
ReplyDeleteIt's no secret that Dr. Bryant and CastHell are not chummy chummy and the same goes for Altha Manning. I attended my first board meeting in October and the body language of Altha spoke volumes. The sucking of the teeth; eye-rolling and hands on the hips was enough for the world to read.
One thing about Dr. Alvin Bryant is he sticks to his guns and seems not to be intimidated by these people. He ain't the warm and fuzzy type of guy that will tuck you in bed at night. He's straightforward and what you see is what you get. His bottom line is growing the association and making money and I don't have a problem with that either.
We need to forget the OAA and handle our own buziness. This is what happens when you don't control your info. We can't blame this on no one but those that did not have the foresight to take care of our business in the first place. If the board wasn't so busy fighting with Dr. Alvin Bryant and trying to make him out to be the boogey-man, then they would have saw this coming a mile away.
BTW, shouldn't the financial secretary have a record of all of the financial members? Where was she during this whole process? We can't even get minutes on time. I have never gotten a copy of the minutes and I have attended 3 national meetings. This is the type of stuff that stucks. But I guess you all will blame this on Dr. Alvin Bryant as well.
But go ahead and blame Dr. Alvin Bryant for this too.
TO: 1/16/2007 6:38 PM
ReplyDeletePREACH!!!
Many of you do not realize that if you asked the NAA to show their election procedures and process, there are none. We make them up as we go along. So when there is a problem, there is no procedure to help you through the problem and there is no one assigned to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what happens on your job. We have all kinds of procedures for the operation of our company. The NAA is a 501 c 3 business and should have procedures in place for all of its major processes. Elections are considered a major process of an organization. For those of you who belong to other organizations do you have processes for elections? Even the students on campus have an election procedure. The NAA does not.
1/16/2007 4:34 PM
Have YOU asked, or are you just trying to blow smoke up our asses?
There IS a process, and if there WASN'T a process, it would have been up to the candidates to make sure there was one in place.
Who in their right minds would go into an election without knowing what the process was?
I would suggest you take a look at our 60+ pages of bylaws, policies and procedures, THEN talk about the "inaccuracies."
BTW, shouldn't the financial secretary have a record of all of the financial members? Where was she during this whole process? We can't even get minutes on time. I have never gotten a copy of the minutes and I have attended 3 national meetings. This is the type of stuff that stucks. But I guess you all will blame this on Dr. Alvin Bryant as well.
ReplyDeleteBut go ahead and blame Dr. Alvin Bryant for this too.
1/16/2007 6:38 PM
To 1/16/2007 6:38 PM:
Just for point of clarification, the financial secretary (male) and recording secretary (female) are two different people, and serve two different functions.
Which one keeps a financial record of all dues paying members?
ReplyDeleteThe Financial Secretary has the responsibility of keeping the records of the financial members, and the OAA keeps a record as well. The OAA sends out correspondence to the NAA membership. If there are any problems with the accuracy of the list of recipients who receive any NAA correspondence, that lies with the OAA. (This isn't the best way to do it, but it's been done this way for years).
ReplyDeleteThe Recording Secretary keeps the minutes from the meetings.
Thank you for the information. It was helpful.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said @ 8:28 AM...
ReplyDeleteIf there are any problems with the accuracy of the list of recipients who receive any NAA correspondence, that lies with the OAA.
There it is. Now, y'all can STOP trying to blame the NAA for what YOU'RE not following up on.
Goodness gracious. This comment area has the potential to become one of the biggest in RN history. I'm betting that it will go up to at least 75 replies.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that RN has provided this space for frank discussion. It's obvious that there are some issues in the NAA that need to be candidly addressed. Now that these concerns have been expressed, I hope the posters will place them on paper and send them to the proper university and NAA officials. If that doesn't work, then perhaps it's simply time to call for a series of NAA constitution & by-laws revision meetings.
About Altha Manning her days are numbered, don't think you've gotten away with what you did to Ms. Henderson, I think this is a personal attact on Ms. Henderson based on the out come of Dr.Bryant's win.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the anonymous one glad to see Ms. Henderson gone be carefull what you are not sad about.
We need to separate how we feel about people and how we feel about work habits and practices. Ms. Henderson was not competent in her position. All of us who have interacted with her over the years know this. Everyone who wants to work should be allowed to work, but the responsibilities she had were beyond her scope, capabilities, etc. Sharon was moved from the OAA before the grievance was filed.
ReplyDeletePeople have been trying to change the personnel in the OAA for years. Kudos to Ms. Manning for effecting change.
I do not feel people should have jobs just because. We have a responsibility to be professional, competent and to meet the demands of our chosen profession. There are too many people on our campus who are not seeking additional training, not trying to improve their skill sets, not trying to adapt to technology, not trying to offer customer service, etc.
The university cannot continue to just limp along. Today's students have options. Alumni have options to do community service. If we do not improve our practices, people will spend their money and their time elsewhere.
Ms. Henderson was very competent it is people like you and Manning don't stop and think about the RESPONSIBILITIES that is put on a person at any given time. I've been in that office when Ms. Henderson was during 5 things at one time and she didn't let up at all so if you want to talk about Responsibity, Professional and Competent go look these words up in your dictionary because you have NO ideal what these words mean.
ReplyDeleteYou need to work on your Englsh skills. In your above scenario, the word is "idea".
ReplyDelete*rolleyes*
ReplyDeleteA grammar Nazi. And you wonder why we want to kick your asses out of office.
What you need to do is drop on your knees along with Manning because its just a matter of time before the hole you dug for Ms. Henderson is the same one for you guys and I mean that just the way I wrote it, the word (Ideal) was meant just the way I wrote it. right back at you NAZI.
ReplyDeleteI have read several of the comments on this site and it same as though I know a few of you LADIES and I'm being kind when I called you ladies. Please remember what was done to Ms.Henderson is already done to you. The good thing about Ms. Henderson, she already knows. YOU! you don't know the time, place and hour but I can assure you, you will see it again and just remember. For the one that said "the university can no longer limp along". It's quite obvious that you are as blind as bat. What the hell you think we are doing with these DAMN interims. Until our (BOT) select a competent (not interim) President, limp is all we can do. I want call names at this time but you guys seem to know Ms. Henderson so well that you can say these things about her. As I said earlier, I know who you are and you'll see it again and I just might call names the next but it'll be person.
ReplyDeleteAltha Manning your DAYS are numbered.
ReplyDelete