On the heels of a FAMU student protest against Gov. Rick Scott’s request for President James H. Ammons’ suspension, numerous alumni have also called for the governor to back off."I think there's going to be a tremendous backlash on the governor," former state Sen. Alfred “Al” Lawson told the Tallahassee Democrat.
State Rep. Alan Williams, FAMU Trustee Spurgeon McWilliams, and FAMU National Alumni Association President Tommy Mitchell also told the newspaper that they were troubled by Scott’s recommendation.
"You can't just say, in a crisis, put the president on the sideline without anyone to act in his stead," McWilliams said." Most of the board just doesn't feel like Ammons has done that bad a job. The other thing is you don't know who's coming next."
"I don't think Ammons needs to be suspended because of hazing,” Mitchell added. “I'm concerned what the agenda is to remove a Florida A&M president at a time like this."
State Sen. Arthenia Joyner believes that Scott has committed a knee-jerk reaction.
“I have great concerns over the governor’s haste to recommend suspending Dr. Ammons while simultaneously admitting he has no knowledge of any wrongdoing,” she said in a press release. “It’s particularly galling that the governor justifies his action as a way to assure people the university is fully cooperating. This is the same Rick Scott who had no similar compunction to immediately step aside as CEO of HCA when the FBI launched its probe into what became the largest health care fraud case ever in this country’s history.”
John Michael Lee, an educational consultant, questioned why the governor did not intervene at Florida State University earlier this year when a student died as a result of an alcohol-related shooting.
“Why didn’t Governor Scott ask the Eric J. Barron, President of Florida State University, to step down on January 9, 2011 when a Florida State University sophomore, Ashley Cowie, was shot and killed at the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house in what has been deemed an accidental, but alcohol-related, shooting,” Lee asked. “Cowie was a member of Chi Omega Sorority. A Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity member has been charged with manslaughter in the case. Governor Scott also did not ask for an FDLE investigation into the incident at Florida State University nor did the media sensationalize this event.”