Back on June 7, Rattler Nation posted an open letter that School
of Business and Industry (SBI) Professor Annette Singleton Jackson wrote about
what she sees as the poor treatment that the FAMU faculty is receiving under the
current administration. On that same day, the Tallahassee Democrat uploaded an
op-ed by FAMU United Faculty of Florida President Elizabeth K. Davenport
entitled: “Anonymous petition doesn’t help Mangum’s administration.”
Davenport criticized an anonymous online petition that asked
the FAMU Board of Trustees (BOT) to grant a contract extension to President Elmira
Mangum. The petition, which was filled with misinformation, received support
from many members of the “FAMU Alumni” Facebook group.
“Whatever the intent, the petition lacks validity and seems more like an act of desperation to save a failed administration,” Davenport wrote.
The op-ed by Davenport also took the petition to task for
its claim that Mangum’s “leadership was also responsible for…an increase in
fundraising from $3.3 Million to $5.7 million in 2015.” Davenport said the
petition was wrong to give Mangum all of the credit for the $5 million gift
that SBI alumnus John W. Thompson gave FAMU in 2014. She said the petition
ignored the years of hard work by SBI Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud that made the
historic achievement possible.
The Rattler Nation story with Jackson’s open letter and the op-ed
by Davenport were both posted inside the “FAMU Alumni” Facebook group. Rattler
Nation won’t publish the ugly statements that were made against those two
professors on that page. But the responses included name-calling and
other derogatory comments.
Jackson tried to have a civil dialogue with some of her
critics in the group. But when the personal verbal attacks against her intensified,
she decided to be the bigger person and leave the conversation.
This isn’t the first time these types of lowbrow tactics
have been used by individuals posting in the “FAMU Alumni” Facebook group.
Back during the week of March 20-26, Tallahassee Democrat
reporter Bryon Dobson covered
the controversy over the FAMU Student Government Association elections and
complaints from BOT members about a lack of communication from
the administration.
Some individuals in the “FAMU Alumni” Facebook group reacted with posts
that called Dobson names and asked others to also join in their effort to smear
him.
Reporters Tia Mitchell, Lynn Hatter, and Marlon Walker responded
with statements of support for Dobson. They are alumni of the FAMU School of
Journalism and Graphic Communication.
There are more than 10,000 members of the “FAMU Alumni”
Facebook group and no one should assume that the distasteful actions of a few
internet trolls represent all of the registered members. This isn’t a criticism
against the majority of the members or the moderator of the page.
The small but loud set of individuals in the “FAMU Alumni”
Facebook who are trying to silence reporters and FAMU faculty members through
the use of personal insults still don’t seem to understand why they’re failing.
They aren’t getting anywhere because they’re targeting people who aren’t afraid
of them and are continuing to make factless arguments that won’t fool real
Rattlers.