Rattler Nation has learned that steps are already being taken to make sure that the results of President James H. Ammons' evaluation will please the Florida governor’s office. Some trustees are set to give the president very low scores in order to get him back for what they have taken as slights against them. Other trustees are being strong-armed to either join the drive to give Ammons bad reviews or else face severe political consequences.Bill Jennings, Richard Dent, Charles Langston, and Karl White were not expected to give Ammons positive evaluations even before Gov. Rick Scott asked for the president’s removal. They all tried to get rid of the super-majority clause in Ammons’ contract, which would have made it easier to dismiss the president. Ammons’ refusal to give in to their demands seems to have only increased their determination to build a pathway for his exit.
Rufus Montgomery came up empty-handed in his previous attempt to help Scott oust Ammons. His failure to deliver led Scott to go public with his call for FAMU trustees to suspend the president. That only resulted in negative headlines and an embarrassing rejection from the FAMU board after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools warned the governor about possibly violating accreditation standards. If Montgomery doesn’t make progress in aiding Scott’s battle with Ammons, he could lose the governor’s confidence altogether.
This time around, things are being done much more carefully. The attempt to put pressure on the remaining eight trustees is happening under-the-table. Some are being told that if they do not give Ammons bad individual reviews, they will not be considered for reappointment to the board and will never do any business in Florida again.
We’re told the plan is to use the evaluation results to attract more negative editorials from Florida newspapers that will push Ammons to resign.
The presidential evaluation process at FAMU has already been ruined before it officially begins. Rattlers need to brace themselves for the new round of bad publicity that will be prompted by trustees whose strategy is to drag FAMU through the mud in the newspapers until they get their way.