Franklin elected FSA chair, joins BOG

For the first time since the Florida Board of Governors was established in 2003, the group has a member who strongly supports FAMU’s research ambitions.

Gallop Franklin, II, now entering his second term as FAMU’s student body president, is the new student representative on the BOG. He earned the position by virtue of his recent election as the chairman of the Florida Student Association (FSA).

Franklin, a doctor of pharmacy student who previously served as FSA’s external vice chairman, is now the official voice of the more than 300,000 students within the State University System (SUS) of Florida.

During the past legislative session, Franklin vigorously lobbied for FAMU’s College of Dental Medicine bill. The BOG refused to support the dental school proposal despite Florida’s severe dentist shortage. At the same time, the BOG fast-tracked the approval process for Florida Atlantic University’s request for a medical school.

The only other FAMU alumnus who’s ever served on the BOG was Castell V. Bryant. As FAMU’s interim president, Castell worked to undermine the university’s major research programs. She failed to release badly needed money to the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (which landed the program on probation) and tried to give the joint College of Engineering away to Florida State University.

Castell’s friends on the BOG did all they could to protect her while she was harming key schools that pump millions of research dollars into FAMU’s budget.

Franklin will have a seat at the table as the BOG begins to exercise its new power to set the mission of each SUS institution. He will also have a say in the process of appointing trustees at FAMU and all the other public universities.