Florida Times-Union: Robinson’s appointment a strong choice to move FAMU in right direction

Yesterday, the Florida Times-Union editorial board said that the appointment of Larry Robinson as interim president at Florida A&M University is a positive step toward moving the school in the right direction.

From “FAMU seems to be getting back on track”:

…In the aftermath of [former President Elmira Magnum’s] negotiated departure from the school, there is a fresh opportunity for FAMU to unify as an academic family.

And the university must seize and capitalize on the moment.

There are good signs that is happening. The university has named Larry Robinson, a renowned chemist and longtime FAMU professor, as its interim president.

That was an encouraging first step. Robinson brings a proven pair of safe hands on the FAMU wheel: He’s served as the school’s interim president on two previous occasions over the past 10 years.

And while Robinson acted quickly to make some major changes in FAMU’s administrative structure — letting go of three administrators who had been put in place by Mangum — the interim president has rightly said it’s now critical for the school’s leadership to focus on assuring stakeholders that there’s a measured process in place to move the school forward.

It’s an assurance that FAMU’s stakeholders deserve to receive — and one that’s well overdue given the internal rancor over the past two years.

Read the full editorial here.