Rattler Nation agrees that Jennings definitely has the
qualities that the Sentinel’s opinions staff seems to want in all FAMUans. For
nearly 12 years, Jennings has shown that his main goals on FAMU’s board are to
obtain titles that make him feel important and follow the agenda of the Florida
Governor’s Office without question.
The Sentinel editorial board praised Jennings for leading “a
break from the school's practice of protecting President James Ammons since the
hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in November.”
A recent blog post by Sentinel opinions editor Mike Lafferty continues to support the
University of Central Florida’s decision to protect President John Hitt even though
his lack of control over the athletic program helped lead to football player
Ereck Plancher’s death and a $10M negligence ruling against the university.
Lafferty, a UCF alumnus isn’t
rallying other Golden Knights to use a wrongful death negligence incident as a
reason to tear down Hitt’s administration. What’s good enough for UCF should be
good enough for FAMU.
In 2005, FAMU Law School Dean Percy Luney was fired. The
ouster followed news that lawyer Shirley Cunningham had been employed in the
$1M chair he endowed at law school and was receiving a salary of $100,000. The
Cunningham contract was authorized by former President Fred J. Gainous in 2003.
An investigation by the Orlando Sentinel found out that: “In
June 2003, Orlando International Airport Executive Director Bill Jennings, a
FAMU trustee, called a meeting with Luney, Cunningham and Gainous, who had
become FAMU's president the previous summer. It was here, Luney and Cunningham
contend, that a deal was struck to pay the lawyer $100,000 a year to advise the
law school and raise funds.”
Another Orlando Sentinel article showed that Jennings didn’t
want to accept any accountability for what reportedly happened during the
meeting he presided over in his office.
“They discussed the circumstances surrounding the
[Cunningham] contribution," Jennings said. But, "I don't recall those
conversations. I was in and out of that meeting.”
Jennings couldn’t recall the discussions that took place
during a meeting that happened in front of his own desk? It sounds more like he
was either a space case or just thought most readers would be stupid enough to
believe that excuse.
But since the Sentinel editorial board refuses to hold the
UCF president to the same “accountability” standard it demands for FAMU’s
president, there is no reason to be shocked that they consider a shady, sneaky windbag
like Jennings to be a model FAMUan.