Laura Branker the lone remaining member of the "gang of six" who voted against incoming president James Ammons said yesterday that she has no intentions of resigning from the FAMU Board of Trustees.Branker told the St. Pete Times, that she's "looking forward to working with Ammons and new trustees." She's well aware that there is the "notion that she'll be some kind of "flamethrower", she contends that she is a professional. Branker also warned that despite the recent resignations she will not be a wall flower and "stand idly by", she will continue to raise the important questions that she thinks need to be raised.
Ms. Branker, the former Deputy Cheif of Staff to Gov. Jeb Bush was appointed to the FAMU BoT by Bush and is serving her second term on the board.
Branker raised the ire of FAMU alumni and stakeholders when she bitterly refused to allow trustees to make the vote for Ammons unaimous.
Calling it quits, also see:
Benjamin quits
Willie George quits
Challis quits
Jenkins quits
Tyson replaced
Dat gul FOS...Why didn't she raise the "Important Questions" during Castell's tenure.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it, as a board member, Castell was able to almost destroy the University without any challenger from her.
She needs a large cup of reality and throw the towel in like the other trustees.
Not stand idly by? I thought that was the function of the board during the last several years.
ReplyDeleteLaura Branker is the chair of the Academic Affairs committee. Under her leadership, we have several of our signature programs under provisional status (accreditation).
ReplyDeleteCollege of Law
College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
School of Journalism, Media and Graphic Arts
College of Education (thank God they're off this list)
As far as fund raising, this fool has raised a whooping zero dollars and contributed even less to the Foundation. She was against the trustees giving/raising $5-10,000 per year as proposed by Trustee Agnew. This is peanuts for someone tied into the Republican fundraising machine.
She thinks FAMUans are fanatics that need to be controlled and she despises anything from the Humphries years even though she was a scholarship recipient that started out in Architecture, but couldn't cut it.
Branker has got to go! Even if the BOG was trying to take our key programs away (Pappas Report), she has basically handed them the reasons to take them and the formation of the BOG Task Force.
And don't forget she served on the presidential search committee that took almost 2 1/2 years to find a president; the budget and finance committee that allowed Castell to engage "Consultants/Contractors Gone Wild"; was silent as a church mouse on the issues dealing with the 2005 & 2006 operational and financial audits; the firing of the inspector general; and the cover-up by Castell and Lowe.
Yeah, Branker has gots-ta-go! The only yes that we want to hear from Laura is "Yes I'm leaving."
This witch never asked Castell about that the damn $10.4M deficit; the sweetheart deal with Hollins Group; 1,000 employees unpaid, some for 2 years; the 35 audit findings; NSF; declining enrollment; missing property; the SBI 8; and finally but not the least was her responses to the Rattler Family that she could not see Dr. Ammons coming back to FAMU in any capacity, therefore, he is not in my top three.
Laura, please leave while people are asking you nicely. It's too late to ask the tough questions, let your replacement who will have the interest of the university foremost handle that job.
She's looking mighty defiant in that picture.
ReplyDeleteI don't think ya'll want to mess with that sista.
Let us know what we can do to help her move on! She has no respect for Rattler's and she believes she is untouchable.
ReplyDeleteIt may take the new board members to help her see the light; however I think "we" need to keep raising the issue. Will poster 9:17 a.m. send your very nice summation to the Democrat Zing or Editorial section?
I can respect her decision to stay on. The bad side of all of these resignations are that these new individuals are going to need to time to get acquainted with everything and then after a while they will ask the tough questions.
ReplyDeleteReal talk; Laura Branker is sexy as hell! I would hit that
ReplyDelete9:47, what kind of monitor are you using?
ReplyDeleteI think she chooses to remain on board because she simply has no other leadership opportunities.
. Gov. Crist I serve at your pleasure and am more than willing to deliver news of her dismissal to the arrogant and shallow Ms. Branker.
I always said that Ammons was too politically attatched to this university. We need a president who is objective to the politics of FAMU. Thios will be another administration of old friends helping and pulling other friends along for all of the wrong reasons. We need an outside president. I agree with the sister. As far as Castell is concerned it seems as if she strattled the fence too long and did not challenege some of the most damning issues that were brought to light.
ReplyDeleteIf even one RAT stays on this boat it will not be Noah's Ark it will be the TITANIC. It's already half-way sunk.
ReplyDeleteNew people asking tough questions will not need lots of time. Everything is on the record and we must assume they have a functioning brain and can read.
Leaving or bring in more of the usual FAMU blood suckers who are only there to keep up the payments on their unaffordable lifestyle would result in the death of our much loved university.
There's only one questions...will alumni sit back and watch it happen.
Well it seems like the alumni will let the university fall. Why not rally for certian alumni appointments, instead of just trusting Gov.Christ. At the end of the day he dont know the appointments personally like fellow alumni do. Something freightens me about laura branker staying on the board, i just hope she doesnt have any influence of the appointments of the new trustees, because she is part of that REPUBLIKLAN machine.
ReplyDeletePoor, poor pathetic Braanker girl, yes girl. Your one vote is just that one vote. Stay is you must but know that you can't do a damn thing but be a poor pathetic girl who apparently being dealing with some serious psychological issues since childhood. We pity you and hope one day that you will seek the counseling that you so desparately need. Please, please seek out Dr. Phil.
ReplyDeleteBranker looks like a recent hooker character I say on "Law and Order".
ReplyDeleteWhat story is she trying to sell on the street corner after trying to sail FAMU down the river. Anonymous is right. She is pathetic and in need of some serious medical "head" :), Ms.Law and Order hooker.
I am troubled by the singling out of Board members to keep or fire. If we want to blame problems wih the current administration on the Board then blame all baord members. All of them at one time or another slept on an issue. RB included. Let's not pick and choose only those who wanted a different vision for FAMU. The last thing we need is a board that becomes a rubber stamp for Ammons.
ReplyDeleteWe need people on our board who will do their due diligence, will study the reports, will familiarize themselves with other practices at other universities, who will educate themselves about higher education, who will understand the requirements of our state and who will learn proper board decorum.
From what I could see, most of these issues were not exhibited by the current board. So if we are replacing, replace all of them.
no she doesn't look defiant, she looks like a spoiled little mixed-up girl who didn't get her way. I agree with the comments that she needs some medical help and quickly.
ReplyDeleteRE:
ReplyDelete"From what I could see, most of these issues were not exhibited by the current board. So if we are replacing, replace all of them."
"CHECKMATE!"
Everyone keeps thinking that only the ones that left so far were solely responsible for what has taken place up there ...
Well - It has been just as much the fault of "The Magnificent Seven" as everyone else as to the current condition of the School ... So why not just wipe the slate totally clean of everyone while you're at it?
Complain all you all like about her choosing to stay ... But the REAL pressure is going to be more on the ones you all have been hailing as saviours that voted for him!
... And also - On all of YOU!!
I agree. The BOT corporately have made a foul mess at governing the decisions of CVB and the current administration. One decision to elect Ammons is miniscule as compared to the decisions that were left to chance by incompetence. The question that we as alumni must ask is what is in it for those who voted for him and remain. The answer to a better FAMU is to hold the ENTIRE BOT accountable for the trouble it has cause our orange and green and replace all of them!
ReplyDeleteanon 5/18/2007 12:00 PM You are exactly right!!
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree the NAA should encourage its members to lobby for the removal of ALL old board members!
ReplyDeleteBranker, what's up with you? The hands been writing on the wall and it reads, TIME FOR YOU TO GO!
ReplyDeleteWell Rev. RB Holmes is stradling the fence. I am tired of these flip flopping board members. They are as worst as the republican candidates for the white house.
ReplyDeleteI hear that R.B. Holmes may go up for the Chairman position when the time comes around!
ReplyDeleteALL THE OLD BOARD MEMBERS WERE INEFFECTIVE. THEY MUST GO. ALUMNI SHOULD DEMAND THAT. WE ARE THE ONES WHO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL FINANCIALLY AND BY OUR REPUTATION IN THE SOCIAL AND BUSINESS COMMUNITY.
ReplyDeleteOh Hell Naw...Rev Holmes...A complete conflict of interest. As soon as Castell was appointed president, she joined his church. Hmmm 10% tithe on $300K is about 30 g's a year. Rev Holmes only started making a fuss when Castell started firing his members. We need some qualified members on the board. He adds nothing to the BOT.
ReplyDeleteEVERY BOARD MEMBER UNDER CASTELL NEEDS TO GO!!! FAMU performance for the past 2 yrs is horrific.
ReplyDeleteI agree that all Board Members need to go and so does all the VP's because they all had nothing but bad talk about Ammons. Especially Jackson, Rufus, June, Danielle-Kennedy, and Lizzie.
ReplyDeletewhy is laura being so mean and stubborn? whatever those already, inherent characteristics were not in her from the jump, she had a superb teacher who showed her how to be stink with people. I think. however, the girl is just plain mean and nasty and didn't need any examples to learn the ropes of "ornerism" and difficulty. She can stay, but she's not going to get anywhere on the board with that ol' stink attitude.
ReplyDeletethat lady fine lookin'!
ReplyDelete"she despises anything from the Humphries years even though she was a scholarship recipient that started out in Architecture, but couldn't cut it."
ReplyDeleteSo she's a FAMU grad?
Anonymous said...
She's looking mighty defiant in that picture.
I don't think ya'll want to mess with that sista.
5/18/2007 9:18 AM
You can't be serious? She'll get one of those long overdue ass whuppins.
And I agree, the old BOT members much go as well. But you can't replace the faculty rep or the SGA prez can you?
She's attractive, sure, but that pix is about three years old.
ReplyDeleteDelilah and Jezebel were attractive too!
ReplyDeletethat's a fine woman right there. She can stay on my "Board" as long as she wants.
ReplyDelete"Jeb Bush's former Deputy Chief of Staff"
ReplyDeleteEnough said for me.
Don't forget Nelson Townsend resignation. The guy had big party prepared in his office in case his old president (he came from UMES) Thelma Thompson won the vote and was pulling all strings against Ammons so he can keep his $250,000 job and continue destroying athletics.
ReplyDeleteTownsend's leaving as well? I try and keep up with what's happening and who's who, but I don't think I knew (or maybe I forgot) that Townsend was from UMES. But he's turn is his resignation also???
ReplyDeleteTownsend is in the final 3 for the Delaware State AD job. Supose he was asked to resign along with the other VPs. Dunno if he has yet.
ReplyDeleteWHO IS NEXT? Check out "the list":
ReplyDeleteThe FAMU audit committee meet today via telephone conference call and among some of the recommenendations it decided was to move to decertify the FAMU National Alumni Association.
The FAMU-NAA has been given a deadline of March 15 to respond to the audit committee's mandate and come into compliance with its guidelines.
"We need to send a message to the Alvin Bryant," said BOT Audit Committee Chair George Allen, "FAMU is in control of FAMU and not the other way around. I think we need to start the decertification process and not allow them to use our name."
Those on the call included: W. George Allen, Chair, BOT Chair Challis Lowe, Nelson Townsend, Grace Ali, Jesse Tyson,Rufus Little,Castell Bryant, Altha Manning
and Liz McBride.
Cast your vote for Mrs. Laura Branker for, " The new Mrs. James Corbin!!!"
ReplyDeleteWow! My comment about who Branker used to "kick it" with was censored. Would be nice if this censorship was consistent. Anyway, she is a FAMU journalism grad....either 89 or 90. Magna cum laude. Let's be consistent RN b/c I have seen other comments on here that were wholly inappropriate, yet not removed.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteWHO IS NEXT? Check out "the list":
W. George Allen, Chair, BOT Chair Challis Lowe, Nelson Townsend, Grace Ali, Jesse Tyson,Rufus Little,Castell Bryant, Altha Manning
and Liz McBride.
Altha Manning's name has come up on the naughty list a few times. What is her motivation for destroying the NAA?
Wow! My comment about who Branker used to "kick it" with was censored. Would be nice if this censorship was consistent. Anyway, she is a FAMU journalism grad....either 89 or 90. Magna cum laude. Let's be consistent RN b/c I have seen other comments on here that were wholly inappropriate, yet not removed.
ReplyDelete5/19/2007 6:44 PM
Don't feel like the Lone Stranger, 6:44PM. It's happened to me on a couple of occasions. I even went on to post it again and it disappeared. I guess too much truth is not good for this blog.
Anywho, anything remotely connect to the Bush regime need to go from our BOT. And that ESPECIALLY includes Branker. I just hope Charles continues cleaning house.
I think anything related to a person's private, sexual liasons, activities and with whom they kicked it with, name-wise, is a pretty serious allegation that can lead to serious legal action by the person in question, if the comments and claims were to be found untrue and/or scandulous in nature. What's posted here are, generally, responses to what RN brings to us, and that which can be found out by most anyone who has the time, interest, inclination and research skills to do the math. For the most part we comment, not on allegations and innuendos, but what's out there already (but perhaps not in as much detail). RN brings it to us in a different public format and allows us to offer commentary on public documents. While I don't believe I have been censored in some of my comments, I understand the consequences and ramifications of the need to do so sometime. After all, RN, I believe, takes a fairly huge risk already in terms of what it publishes sometime. I visit here often, and I know that a lot of scandulous stuff has been posted here--but the majority of it is the poster's opinion. I venture to say, however, that who kicked it with whom might be stepping where RN does not wish to tread.
ReplyDeleteKicked it? Who cares who Branker played soccer with?
ReplyDeleteTO: Anonymous who said, "Don't feel like the Lone Stranger, 6:44PM. It's happened to me on a couple of occasions. I even went on to post it again and it disappeared. I guess too much truth is not good for this blog."
ReplyDeleteTo this person and the other, my comments were censored also, and when I saw that, I thought, "I cannot BELIEVE that people on this blog have said some of the things they have, and when I responded once to something about a certain VP and others in that division, my comments were removed."
But after hitting the send button, I realized that I was much bigger than that, and my comments were "meaner" than I ever thought I was. In retrospect, I would have removed the comments, myself, if I could have.
I have seen some comments about some innocent bystanders in all of this "mess" that I wish had been censored, so you're right in that the censoring is not consistent. But, then, it's NOT our blog either. (laughing)
Hey. I censor myself from time to time.
ReplyDeleteRN, you're still the best! We'll miss you after August.
ReplyDelete2:24-you sound like an attorney. Or perhaps you're Branker herself!
ReplyDeleteHERE IS OUR REMINDER OF WHAT POSITIVE ACTIVISM CAN DO:
ReplyDeleteEx-alumni chief Johnson put courage on the line for FAMU
He never held back in expressing his contempt for the people and policies that relegated FAMU to the back of the higher-education bus.
Eddie Jackson
Special to the Sentinel
May 21, 2007
Orlando-born physician Leonard Johnson once said that he was driven by love of religion, family, fraternity and his alma mater. But from 1968 to 1977, during the turbulent presidency of Benjamin L. Perry Jr., his alma mater moved to the head of the list when Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University faced the greatest threats to its existence since its founding in 1887.
As president of the FAMU National Alumni Association, Johnson joined with Perry in the early 1970s to form an extraordinary bulwark against a rising clamor of legislative utterances to merge or close the state's third-oldest public institution of higher learning. Suddenly, Florida lawmakers, who had exhausted their efforts to preserve segregation, embraced school integration as a form of punishment against black institutions at all levels of learning by simply threatening to shut them down.
Johnson died May 12 at Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia. His dedication to his alma mater will forever inspire FAMU graduates and friends.
A Philadelphia family physician who graduated from FAMU in 1950, Johnson put his family, his church and his private medical practice on hold and, in many cases using his own funds, crisscrossed the nation, alerting alumni to political chicanery taking place behind closed doors in Florida's capital city.
When he was not traveling and rallying alumni to put their monies and courage on the line, Johnson was in Tallahassee meeting with Perry and legislators. He was small in physical stature, but his voice resonated up and down the corridors of the Capitol.
And in an era when white folks expected blacks to be deferential, Johnson never held back in expressing his contempt for the people and policies that relegated FAMU to the back of the higher-education bus for so long.
Perry was once told to "call your people off," as he was walking into a room where the Florida Board of Regents was gearing up for one of its regular meetings.
Perry said, "What do you mean?
"You know what I mean, your alumni, call them off," came the reply.
Perry continued his pretense of bewilderment and moved to take his seat at the table.
Three days prior to the meeting, Perry had received a late-night call informing him that the Board of Regents was going to unveil a plan on the future of the State University System that might not include FAMU.
Perry called Johnson. Within hours, telephones began ringing at homes throughout the country. The next day, telegrams were being wired.
Automobiles filled with FAMU graduates took to the highways as if a homecoming game had been scheduled. When the board meeting began, alumni were inside and outside the building. The item was tabled and not discussed during the meeting.
According to Johnson, a board member or a high-ranking member of the board's staff kept Perry informed of the board's plans.
"I remember many times Perry would get those late night calls. . . . Once Perry got the call, he would call me. We had a network that could respond almost immediately regarding any threat to FAMU," Johnson said.
Speaking during a university convocation, Johnson said, "I will never forget the tremendous impact FAMU had on my life. When I was a student, I learned self-discipline, hard work, fair play, competitiveness, caring and reverence. When I decided to become a doctor, I had no trouble holding my own because FAMU's science faculty had prepared me for the full rigor of medical school.
"The state of Florida has never appreciated FAMU. Never really understood what it has meant to generations of African-American families. It would shut FAMU down in a minute. But I want to send this word forth today that FAMU will be here as long as the state of Florida is here."
In 1997, he was one of 100 graduates selected to receive Florida A&M University's Centennial Medallion. Many consider his era, from 1970 to 1980, as the national alumni association's finest hour.
A funeral service is planned in Orlando for Johnson at 11 a.m. Tuesday at New Covenant Baptist Church, 2210 S. Rio Grande Ave.
This Rattler's legacy lives on.
Eddie Jackson, who graduated from Jones High School in Orlando in 1956, retired in 2002 as vice president of university relations at Florida A&M University. He lives in Tallahassee. He wrote this commentary for the Orlando Sentinel.
10:27, I'm not Branker, but I am a fairly regular reader of RN, coming here to see what shennanigans the kitchen cabinet has been up to lately. I post frequently and know that some of the things I see here could probably stand to "not be here." But I throw my little two cents in pretty often, but try and stay away from all of the sensational and juicy things that I really, really want to say. Sometimes I get carried away in that formal tone that you referred to, but mostly the words just roll off the fingertips. I promise you, however, that I'm not Branker. Heck, I want girlF to follow suit and get to steppin' like all of the other woebegone rascals that voted against Ammons.
ReplyDeletewell, 10:08-if you are not an attorney, you need to consider applying to law school. I liked your legal analysis on that one. I agree.....'ol girl needs to get to steppin'. But, she is a very firm person and it will take more than snide remarks to make her go away. Her attitude puts me in the mind of George Bush (ya'll's president....b/c I don't claim him). If you say the sky is blue, she will defiantly disagree and say "no, it's black". She is most definitely a trip, so I don't think she will bend to pressure. But lawd knows.....I wish she would just go!!!!
ReplyDeleteBranker tore her drawers when she wouldn't agree to ceremoniously vote to make Dr. Ammons selection as president unanimous. Now it's time for her to do the right thing and resign.
ReplyDeleteI still say that the board needs Branker (or at least someone akin to Branker). I certainly don't agree with how she has presented herself in terms of her votes and/or performance on the board, but I do respect her position of tenacity in sticking to her guns when everyone else has offered a different view of the issues. What we saw in the past--with the members who have already tendered their resignations--was a blanket system of allowing the interim president to say and do whatever she so desired in relationship to how the university should be managed. I think that a truly open board, one which has a few dissenters on pertinent issues, is a good thing. It allows for an opporunity for open dialoge to occur and for a diversity of opinions to be made public. That's always a good thing, whether its a corporate board or an academic board or a political board. Diversity of opinion governs intellectual dialogue. We shouldn't want to hear the identical opinions of our fellow members, and in this regard a healthy discussion can only be a good thing. Hopefully, the board can learn to disagree without resorting to fisticuffs and mean-spiritedness. No of that does anyone any good--the board, the university it serves, the faculty who teach the students and the students who come to the university to learn about such diverse issues that will, hopefully, allow them to be better prepared when they leave the university.
ReplyDeleteShe should have asked the relevant questions BEFORE she decided to vote for that UMES woman for president. Yes, the Board needs diverse views, but this woman doesn't even think. She needs to resign NOW!
ReplyDelete