Mangum’s Vice-President of Communications and External Relations
Jimmy Miller, who she appointed in 2014, provided such poor “leadership”
that the Office of Communications itself became a recurring source of
embarrassing news for FAMU.
Miller caused negative headlines by bumbling important
communications with the FAMU Board of Trustees (BOT) regarding the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and reassignment of ex-Chief Financial Officer Dale Cassidy.
WFSU then reported in August 2015 that the FAMU Office of Communications had hired an individual named Santoras D. Gamble to a job that pays him $75,000 per year. According to WFSU, “Gamble was convicted of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, a felony.”
Miller also fumbled through a discussion with reporters
after Mangum decided to dodge questions from the press at a press conference
she called on October 29, 2015. One reporter called him on the facts about
Mangum’s own schedule as another reporter tried to hold back his laughter.
The Office of Communications led by Miller then organized a
short, 45-minute media availability with Mangum the next week with restrictions
that the news director of WTXL-27 in Tallahassee said were “unacceptable.”
Things didn’t improve after Mangum promoted Miller to chief
of staff in December 2015 and Elise Durham began heading the office as
assistant vice-president.
Durham quickly ran into conflict with students, faculty, and
alumni of the FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communication over her
email that urged the faculty senate to exclude the media from its meetings. She
then made a lame attempt to walk her statement back that got her nowhere.
The office “leadership’s” low standards were also on display
with the decision to choose Kyle Washington as the “student engagement
coordinator.” Back in 2009, Washington got into a cursing match over ribs when
he was member of the BET reality TV show College Hill South Beach.
Justin Bruno, who won the 2016 SGA presidential election
after facing off against the Victor Chrispin, said that Washington was Chrispin’s
campaign manager. When Bruno was prevented from taking office due to Mangum’s
mishandling of the student elections, Bruno stated he believed Mangum wanted
Chrispin on the BOT because they had a personal friendship that led her to
believe he would help protect her job.
The Office of Communications hit a new low when it posted links on the official FAMU Twitter and Facebook accounts to the op-ed by “Interim”
Student Body President Jaylen Smith that made the laughable claim that most
students wanted Mangum to receive a contract extension. The office didn’t post
similar links to the op-eds by FAMU United Faculty of Florida President Elizabeth Davenport
that said the faculty had become “estranged from their president” and
questioned whether the administration was behind an anonymous petition that called
for Mangum to keep her job.
But at long last, the Office of Communications is getting
back on track. Earlier this month, Interim President Larry Robinson appointed
Kathy Times to replace Durham.
Times, a graduate of the FAMU J-School, is a proven leader.
She previously served as a news anchor and reporter, head of a public relations
firm, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, and public
relations committee chair of the FAMU National Alumni Association.
The signs that the office is moving in right direction are
already apparent on its website. Washington’s name is no longer in the staff directory.
FAMU deserves an Office of Communications with credible
leadership and Times is the right choice to make sure it has that.