Barnes represents near-comedic, low quality of FAMU presidential applicant field

Former FAMU President James H. Ammons had many strong points. But one of his weak points was his decision to appoint too many senior administrators who weren’t up to the task of leadership and had little loyalty to anyone but themselves.

Barbara Barnes, his former interim provost, was one of those individuals. She represents the overall low quality of FAMU’s presidential applicant field.

Under-the-table dealing to try and place Barnes in the big seat in Lee Hall has occurred twice since former FAMU President Frederick S. Humphries retired in 2001.

Back in 2004, Barnes was the back-up choice for most of the Jeb Bush-appointed FAMU trustees who banded together to bring Castell Bryant in as interim president. On December 2, 2004, the members of the FAMU Board of Trustees transition committee had the opportunity to bring two names forward for consideration for interim president. There were 15 nominees and applicants for the position.

Big time Jeb fundraiser Jim Corbin and his two biggest cronies on the committee, R.B. Holmes and Challis Lowe, all “coincidentally” came up with identical top two picks: Barbara Barnes and Castell Bryant. Mary Diallo and Pam Duncan’s support for Castell gave her a majority of the committee’s votes.

A key argument that was used to promote Castell and Barnes was that they would make the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) happy.

Castell was the former president of Miami-Dade Community College’s Medical Campus and Barnes had once run the now-defunct FAMU School of General Studies. Neither had experience running big university research programs or had an ambitious vision for competing against State University System of Florida (SUS) schools with high research productivity.

Barnes’ name was also pushed for interim president again back in 2011. Rattler Nation reported that FAMU trustees were under pressure to put Barnes in charge of FAMU as Gov. Rick Scott and his top FAMU crony Rufus Montgomery fought to place Ammons on administrative leave.

The political influences that desperately wheel-and-deal to seat Barnes in Lee Hall are attached to agenda of taking FAMU backwards as research university. There are numerous SUS schools that are ready and willing to take the state money that goes to FAMU’s research programs. This is especially apparent as Scott searches for dollars to deliver on his promise to help the University of Florida rise to a top ten-ranked public university.

A Barnes presidency would only serve to clear the way for FAMU’s research appropriations to go to schools such as UF that have strong support from Scott and the BOG.