On July 12, FAMU Athletic Director John Eason and VP for Advancement and School of Business Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud took to social media to herald the closing of the athletic department's projected 2018-19 budget shortfall of $313,000.
Athletics announced the projected shortfall on June 7th, when Eason said he was confident the books would be balanced by June 30.
Athletics announced the projected shortfall on June 7th, when Eason said he was confident the books would be balanced by June 30.
After a last minute fundraising push, the two announced that the through "contributions from the FAMU NAA, Rattler Boosters and the FAMU Foundation" the budget shortfall was covered. However, when pressed for specifics by the Tallahassee Democrat, the two were short on answers.
When asked by the Democrat how much the Boosters and NAA contributed, Friday-Stroud could not say. Neither Tommy Mitchell, Rattler Boosters executive director, nor NAA President Greg Clark, could provide the paper with exactly how much each organization contributed. Only National Rattler "F" Club president Curtis Taylor could confirm that his organization contributed $20,000 towards the budget shortfall.
Friday-Stroud, however, was able to confirm that the University's Father's Day weekend "Big Push", athletics fundraising campaign raised just over $50,000 of its $1 million goal.
Perhaps, most telling is this incoherent and confusing exchange from Friday-Stroud with Democrat reporters:
Friday-Stroud confirmed $313,000 was collected for the current shortfall.
"We were able to transfer $313,000 to the Athletics Department budget last week from donated funds," said Friday-Stroud, who also serves as executive director of the FAMU Foundation. "The Foundation holds the funds for the DSOs and people who make donations to the Athletics Department."
However, when asked if the $313,000 transfer allows the Athletics Department to close the fiscal year which ended on June 30 in the black, Friday-Stroud said, "Technically, I don’t think the books are cleared yet."
Eason appeared to undermine his own claim with his statement which read "the department has 'narrowed' the gap and then shifted to say "expenses have been covered".
All of this begs the question, is the 2018-19 athletic budget shortfall cleared or not?
All of this begs the question, is the 2018-19 athletic budget shortfall cleared or not?