BOG should replace Karl White with someone who has a better professional record

At both the University of Florida and Florida State University, alumni hold ten of the 11 appointed seats on the Boards of Trustees. Those alumni come from the best of the best of each schools’ graduates. The names of numerous wealthy business leaders, prominent attorneys, and influential politicians appear on UF and FSU’s trustee directories.

Florida A&M has many alumni who’ve been just as successful in their careers and would love to receive an appointment to serve on university’s Board of Trustees. But the Florida Governor’s Office and Florida Board of Governors (BOG) have declined to let FAMU alumni hold the majority of seats on the FAMU board.

Florida governors and the BOG have regularly rebuffed the best-accomplished FAMU alumni in order to give the university low-quality appointees like Karl White, whose term ends on January 6, 2016.  

White, a FAMU alumnus, didn’t have an impressive background back when the BOG originally tapped him to serve as a FAMU trustee in 2007. But his presence at FAMU has become increasingly embarrassing in the wake of recent headlines about his time as the chief investment officer at Fletcher Asset Management.

Back in 2013, the Boston Globe reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had questioned White as part of a probe into what’s been described as a possible Ponzi scheme. He recommended an investment fund to his former employer, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), that went belly up. The MBTA has now lost the entire $25M that it gave White to invest.

According to the Globe: “White said he does not know what happened to the MBTA’s money after he left [Fletcher Asset Management] in November 2008. But even before that, White said, he never checked to see how the investments were doing. Though he held the title of investment chief, White said he was not in charge of managing the money.”

No charges or lawsuits have been announced against White.

Globe columnist Steven Syre responded to White’s account by saying that “White sounds like an unsuccessful salesman with a phony title.”

The Globe reported on March 31, 2014 that the MBTA Retirement Fund is now one of the plaintiffs in a $50 million lawsuit against Alphonse “Buddy” Fletcher Jr., who is White’s former boss.

FAMU deserves much better than Karl White. The BOG should replace him with someone who has a better professional record.