Valerie D. White, an associate professor of journalism,
wrote a stinging opinion column in response to Mangum’s “Open Letter to the Editor of The Famuan” that was posted
on the University's revamped news blog on September 10. Mangum wrote the open letter after The FAMUan Editor-in-Chief
Reggie Mizell wrote a September 3 opinion column that criticized her for
excluding student editors from the planning process for a new “official
newspaper” at the university. The editor-in-chief of Journey Magazine, TyLisa
Johnson, was a contributor to the opinion piece.
According to Mizell, Mangum told a group of student editors about the new publication after the Thursday, August 27 Legacy Banquet that honored all the living FAMU presidents. He said the president told them that: “It won’t be the FAMUAN. It’ll be a real newspaper, like the Wall Street Journal.”
White blasted the way that Mangum treated the student
editors in the open letter response.
“The decision to write an open letter to a student was poor
strategy, especially when the students tried to reach Mangum for additional
comment,” White said. “The University immediately provided comment to an
outside entity, while the students were ignored. We don’t treat our students
that way, especially when the open letter is laced with fact errors. In
addition, Mizell is a senior. This open letter in its erroneous context can damage
his career. That is not ‘Excellence with Caring.’”
But White directed her toughest criticism at what she said
was the administration’s decision to give The FAMUan “a directive” to publish
the open letter from Mangum.
“The letter was sent to The Famuan with a directive to
publish it. That is not how this works. It is bullying, the same action Mangum
accuses the board of trustees of doing,” White wrote.
Back on August 23, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that
Mangum had told the newspaper that “she felt ‘bullied’ during” an August 11
conference call with the FAMU Board of Trustees (BOT). According to the
Democrat, BOT Chairman Rufus Montgomery raised his voice during the call
while telling her not to interrupt him.
White, who was named 2005-2006 “FAMU Teacher of the Year” is
a former faculty adviser to The FAMUan. While she served as the adviser to the student publication, The FAMUan
received the “Best Newspaper” award from the Black College Communication
Association in 2004. White was also awarded the Distinguished Adviser Award at
the 2007 College Media Advisers Annual Convention.
Read the full opinion column by White here.
Read the full opinion column by White here.