Finally, someone with close knowledge of the situation has finally spoken up! Eddie Jackson, a former FAMU VP for University Relations, and former consultant to Castell Bryant, has penned a poginant piece opinion piece for the Tallhassee Democract which is right on the money.
Nearly 2,000 days, more than five years, have passed since Frederick S. Humphries resigned the presidency of Florida A&M University, leaving behind an athletic department with a budget surplus in excess of $3 million, an operating budget that was $3 million cash positive, and a composite cash balance of $22 million.
He left a university foundation with an endowment of more than $65 million in assets and growing, after inheriting a foundation with less than $6 million in assets.
He left nearly $90 million already approved for capital construction that included a new 13,000-seat teaching gymnasium and recreation center. He left an SAT average for new students that exceeded 1000, making FAMU the only historically black institution to reach that level.
He left behind a financial staff that was never late with end-of-the-year reports and regularly produced good audits. Many find this hard to believe but it is very easy to check with the state education department.
Conintue reading at: Decline Not Humphries' fault
Lowe blames past leaders
Castell continues to point fingers in payroll mess
Castell says it ain't her fault
After reading Mr. Jackson's article I am reminded of the days on the hill when Dr. Humphries was our leader. Those were the days when everyone in the area wanted to be rattlers! Humphries was a giant of a man, and when he walked on campus; we would just flock to him. Everything that Mr. Jackson said was on point, but one thing that I would like to add or emphasize more is the morale on campus during his era and after. Yeah, as students we hated the idea of not receiving our net checks until two or three months into the semester, but very rarely did you hear student talking about transferring schools, and the ones that did were probably about to flunk out anyway. Humphries brought a pride to FAMU that has yet to be matched, students loved it, faculty loved it, staff loved it and of course the Alumni loved it. Nowadays when you walk on campus, it feels totally different from the days when our "king" was there. There is no moral, no rattler pride and everyone seems to just go through the motion. So kudos to Mr. Jackson for speaking out against the Corbin regime that desired to smear Humphries administration.
ReplyDeleteYes and I think 10:00 a.m. is on point with his or her additional comment. It was a time when high school kids were eager to come to the hill on the one hand, and on the other end of the Rattler machine mature young adults were ready to step out into the world and show their capability to excel, make a difference, and stay connected to FAMU. Now it's a very VERY tense situation, keeping high school counselors and their upcoming graduates interested in trying to get information about FAMU. Unfortunately, the other end of the once potent Rattler machine is sputtering out graduates who have some hesitance and mixed feelings about the experience they've just gone through. Folks, this is not the way for FAM to compete in this environment. It's time to re-tool, re-focus, and re-member that YOU ARE FAMU and YOU ARE SPECIAL. Forget Corbin, Castell,and anyone else who tried to go along with Jeb Bush's plan to make FAMU impotent. It's time to get the Venom ready and strike (with self governing authority), strike (with calculated & well thought out objectives), and strike again ( with quick and definitive moves to reconnect with alums, corporate cluster partners, and federal and foundational grant support) Your students are ready, your alumni are ready, and I truly think your faculty are ready...Let's roll!!
ReplyDeleteIf I may add to the wonderful commentary...
ReplyDeleteYes. During the Humphries era, there was great pride at the university. While no presidency is perfect and Dr. Humphries was no without his flaws, those impections far outshone whatever blemishes he had. Students were down-right eager to come to FAMU, faculty at the university was proud to teach there and the staff was so very important to the running of the everyday business in departments and various schools. While the university may not have been quite up to par with, say, the students' financial aid disbursements, they still came. They complained, but they came, did their work and were ready to make great contributions to the world of business, education, art, sciences, pharmacy, enginerring, et al. We were proud Rattlers. We were fearless Rattlers. We were strong Rattlers. For the most part, now, however, we are none of the above. Morale is low on the campus, and many students are skeptical about returning for the start of the fall semester. Everyone loved Dr. Humphries, including me. While the faculty and many students may have gone without a few basic and necessary things that would make our university better, we knew, at least, that we had a real leader at the helm, and that he was not out to destroy the university. Castell Bryant fired all of the people who knew how to do things, administratively, and hired a number of people who did not have a clue. She disrepects everyone, students, faculty and staff and continued to do things her own way. She never listens, because she simply doesn't want to hear that she can improve something, however simple it may be. She is a horrendously weak "leader," and certainly I use the term with much caution. The financial trouble that the university finds itself in is no one's fault but the current administration's. And the current administration begains the person sitting in the main seat in Lee Hall, not the person(s) who USED to sit there, but the one who sits there NOW. Case Closed.
Adding to my original comment (10:00a.m.) I would like to echo the sentiments of blogger 11:48 and 11:07 in the fact that the current administration (even dating back to Ganious' administration) should stop focusing to the disparities that the Humphries administration had and focus on making the institution better. I can also recall that when Ganious was hired, many felt that he would keep the Humphries machine moving, ie., recruiting national achievement scholars, highly qualified faculty and of course dollars to our university. Sadly, Ganious made sentiments like "FAMU doesn’t need to recruit scholars they need to recruit FAMU." Five years and three administrators later FSU has become the academic cornerstone that FAMU once was. Let’s not forget that in 1997 FAMU was Princeton/Time College of the year, the same year that FSU was Sports Illustrated Party School of the Year. Hopefully, Dr. Ammons won't have the deck stacked against him, and will be able to perform better than his mentor in a time of great despair in our beloved university's history. If not then JEB, James and Castell would have won this war on making FAMU a glorified community college, while T.K. has made FSU one of the premier academic institutions in the south.
ReplyDeleteThe chickens have come home to roost. Time to clean house and start a renewed movement of Rattler Pride! All haters get outta the way. Thanks Eddie for setting the record straight. We're ready to STRIKE! STRIKE!! AND STRIKE!!! AGAIN!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou people are going to turn against Ammons soon enough....
ReplyDeleteAmmons has a proven track record of strong, capable presidential experience. There's no reason to expect anything less than the dynamic leadership he demonstrated at NCCU.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, with the knowledge he's gained from his time as NCCU chancellor, he'll be able to be an even better leader at FAMU!
I'm glad that Ammons is coming home, but I fear two things: 1. if he slips just a bit, folks will turn on him, 2. no matter what he does, folks will still support him. Bottom line? He'll win some and he'll lose some. He'll be better, however he does, than what we have at the helm now.
ReplyDeleteI hope that our Board of Trustees gets its act together, or we might have a situation like at the NAACP.
ReplyDeleteThat's my fear.
Arguably, the single biggest asset any educational institutional has is the trust of the students and alumni. When that trust is broken and there is no genuine attempt to repair the damage the outcome is devastating. Low morale is serious. The is lack of participation, lack of support and lack of giving (time and money) back to the school can be directly tied to the feeling about the school. Shifting blame only aggravates the situation. Someone needs to take ownership of these problems (no matter who or what caused them) and level with students and alumni about the severity of the problems, the specific plan to rectify the problems and direct ways that alumni and current students can participate in the rebuilding of the school. It is not enough to send out another letter telling us about "achievements" that we know are not happening and requesting more money when the money that has already been donated cannot be accounted for after several years. That approach makes alumni feel lied to, cheated and definitely does not put us in a generous mood.
ReplyDelete3/05/2007 12:59 PM
ReplyDeleteYou people are going to turn against Ammons soon enough....
Why? For actually being competent enough to know how to run an institution of higher learning? Did the NCCU folks turn on him? I think not.
You really need to lay off of the sour grapes and stop hatin'.
I am happy to see Jackson write this article. It is a fitting tribute to Prsident Humphries from someone who really knows and was an architect behind the scenes in a number of his successes.
ReplyDeleteToo bad Jackson couldn't write it back when he was collecting a paycheck from Castell and was helping to oil a "Corbin" machine that tried to destroy Humphries reputation. One thing about PR people...they can be bought and sold at whim!
Great letter though...
Honestly, this all goes back to the administrators and friends getting Gainous fired. He was doing fine. Many of the employees and friends wanted somebody to tell them what they wanted to hear. Well, they got it in Castell, and now look what has happened.
ReplyDeleteEddie Jackson wrote a fitting tribute to his old boss, Fred H., but he didn't mention anything about being on Castell's gravy train and getting phat $$. He conveniently left that little note out of his commentary. I agree with one blogger who said that pr people can be purchased and sold, like runaway slaves. Eddie was talking plenty trash today, but he wasn't talking that mess when he was going to the bank with the Castell crew. Now, he wants to "defend" somebody. Yeah, right. Humphries was good, as we all know, but Jackson needed to come real clean on this one.
ReplyDeleteWith friends like Eddie Jackson who need enemies, turncoat mf!
ReplyDeleteI just hope Ammons knows better than to let this slimy creep back in the fold. He is nothing more than a self-serving opportunist. He could give less than a damn about defending Humphries when Castell was riding high. Now that the tide has turned, he wants to ingratiate himself to Humphries because he knows that Fred has Ammons ear. How typical and duplicitious!
ReplyDeleteAmmons is buying a mighty big Hoover vaccum cleaner to suck up all of the crud that the Corbin, Cast-Hell regime brought in. It might take a minute but it WILL get cleaned out.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThe chickens have come home to roost. Time to clean house and start a renewed movement of Rattler Pride! All haters get outta the way. Thanks Eddie for setting the record straight. We're ready to STRIKE! STRIKE!! AND STRIKE!!! AGAIN!!!!
3/05/2007 12:51 PM
*two thumbs up*
Anonymous said...
Ammons is buying a mighty big Hoover vaccum cleaner to suck up all of the crud that the Corbin, Cast-Hell regime brought in. It might take a minute but it WILL get cleaned out.
3/06/2007 5:34 PM
*two thumbs up*
It is really sad that, instead of attacking the message, many of us have chosen to attack the messenger-in this case Mr. Eddie Jackson. This man is retired and could care less than a good God Damn about whether or not he ingratiates himself to Ammons, Humphries or whomever else. He doesn't need a damn job. He is about 70 years old. So, what would he have to gain by being disingenous? Not one damn thing. He spoke "gospel truth" in his article. If you have a problem attack what he wrote. But, please, do not attack the person. Most of you don't even know him. In fact, it is the fact that he is retired that, in part, allows him the freedom to write about what history might determine is, perhaps, the greatest FAMU president of the 20th century--Frederick S. Humphries. So, lets's stop the bullshit and give Eddie Jackson what he is due--commendations for having the courage to buck a lot of small-minded, jaded people who would have us believe that this man has no principles. He does. And, his article is exhibit one.
ReplyDelete1:22 am, you are right, Jackson had nothing to gain in this article. I still find it odd that he was horribly silent when Castell and others tore Fred down. To know him is to know that he is a self-serving opportunist whose integrity even in retirement, has been up for sale...Castell bought him once, who is to say he can't be purchased again!
ReplyDeleteGolly...ya'll sho are ruff up in here!
ReplyDeleteYa better live right or the RN will tear ya down.
What you do in the dark will come to the light!
Eddie Jackson had his hand out when Castell was filling it with $$. No, he has nothing "to gain" by having written the newspaper article, but he conveniently neglected to mention the fact that he was a "consultant" in the CVB administration and was getting paid handsomely, until Castell kicked his old tired arse to the curb. As a former pr man, he knew all the right things to write in the article and all of the wrong things to leave out. Whether or not he has something to gain by airing his view is besides the point. What the point is, however, is that he neglected to include, at the bottom of the article, that in addition to being an administrator during the Humphries era, he was a former, yet recent, "consultant" in Castell's administration as well. Now, why is it that he so conveniently left out that tidbit of information? Yeah, right.
ReplyDeleteNow,now, you can not get mad at Eddie. He is like quite a few black folk. You have your people who will say I am not riding on the back of the bus and I am going to fight it and those who will benifit from those who did the fighting. Eddie falls in the benifit catagory. There are few people who have the guts to say what is wrong to the hand that feeds them. That is just the way it goes.Some don't mind starving for the cause and somr are hungry and they're like bump it, cause or no cause. Eddie is a good man, he just has his priorities in another place, he was hungry.
ReplyDelete