Article 5.6 of the FAMU board’s operating procedures says: “No
business will be transacted without an affirmative vote of the Board, and a
majority vote of all the members of the Board is required for establishing
policy, for making rules and regulations, for appointing and removing the
President, and for approving or terminating programs.”
The FAMU Board of Trustees NEVER voted to restrict the
current interim president from applying for or being considered for the permanent position. The
minutes of the trustee meetings held on July 16, 2012 and August 15, 2012, which
have been accepted by the full board, prove that fact.
No vote. No policy.
Chairman Chuck Badger made an honest mistake when he claimed
that the board approved a policy that bars FAMU’s interim leader from applying
for the permanent presidency. He needs to step up acknowledge the fact that he
gave inaccurate information to the public. But that’s a topic for another
editorial.
Today’s editorial is a plea for Rattlers to wake up and come
to terms with reality. Larry Robinson is not going to submit an application to
become the 11th president of FAMU.
This is a disappointment to many Rattlers because Robinson
has played the biggest single role in giving FAMU a moderate sense of stability
in the nearly 13 years since the retirement of Frederick S. Humphries.
But Robinson has never been on a quest for power. He
accepted the interim presidency with the specific goal of pulling the ship back
in the right direction. Now that FAMU is back in good standing with the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Robinson has accomplished his
goal and is prepared to pass the baton.
Rather than hoping that Robinson will save the day again by
submitting a presidential application, Rattlers need to focus on the applications
that are being turned in to the FAMU Board of Trustees.
The applications during the 2005 and 2007 presidential searches were poor, overall. The most recent list of applicants that was released to the
public wasn’t impressive, either. But there is still a chance that FAMU could
receive some quality applications before the campus interview schedule is set
in January.
2002 was the last year that FAMU had a strong, overall, pool of
presidential candidates. FAMU had a chance to hire Charlie Nelms or Melvin Stith. But the under-the-table dealings on the FAMU Board of Trustees forced
the university to miss out on both of those opportunities.
Back in 2002, it was obvious that trustees like Bill
Jennings, R.B. Holmes, Castell Bryant, and Jim Corbin weren’t up to any good.
But FAMUans did not fight effectively enough to stop them.
Today, FAMU has no choice but to deal with trustees such as
Rufus Montgomery, Torey Alston, Karl White, and Cleve Warren. The good news is
that there might still be enough time left to save the presidential search process.
If the current list of presidential applications doesn’t get
any better, then it will be time to revisit the discussion about extending
Robinson’s stay in the president’s chair. Right now, Rattlers need to focus on
identifying any low-quality or dangerous presidential candidates that Gov. Rick
Scott’s FAMU cronies might try to pressure the board into hiring.