2019: The FAMU Year-In-Review

January

2019 began on a high note as the FAMU Marching 100 put the university on the national stage as the band came strutting their stuff down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena California on the four major television networks.

March

FAMU closed on a $125 million federal loan to construct a new 700-bed residence hall near the corner of Osceola Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. The loan is the largest ever granted from the U.S. Department of Education's HBCU Capital Finance Program. The new dorms will cost about $60 million and FAMU will use the remainder of the money to refinance its existing housing debt, and provide much needed maintenance to some of current housing stock.

One week after closing, FAMU broke ground on the new dorm complex calling the new dorms a "game changer". The new dorms are expected to allow FAMU to better compete for high-achieving students and against its much younger in-state rivals UCF, FIU, FGCU, USF and others.

Then there was "Muscle Milk Gate"... FAMU head football coach used his social media account to make public his plea of the teams’ nutritional woes and lack of access to the basics such as Muscle Milk.   By the end of the summer the 220 Quarterback Club has stepped up with a $32,000 donation, which was followed by the FAMU Foundation orchestrating a donation of 400 cases of the product from Pepsico.

Also, in March, our beloved snack man Hoover "Soul Train" Lawrence died, and FAMU Track Coach Darlene Moore resigned abruptly following the FAMU Relays.

April

FAMU alumni across the globe continued to shine as SBI grad Tirrell D. Whittley, CEO, Liquid Soul Media, was awarded an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary (film) for his work as producer on the Aretha Franklin concert film "Amazing Grace".   Then alum Jason Broughton, a former Marching 100 member, was appointed Vermont state librarian by Governor Phil Scott. He became the first African-American to serve as Vermont state librarian.  Prior to the appointment, he served as the interim state librarian since August 2018. And, Jerry Lorenzo Manuel,a former FAMU baseball player, Founder/CEO of the high-end streetwear fashion label Fear of God announced his second collaboration with the iconic, global, sportswear brand Nike.  In his short career Manuel has worked with Kanye West, Rihanna, and Travis Scott—also created custom looks for Justin Bieber’s 2016 Purpose tour.

May

FAMU saw it's six-year graduation rate break the 50 percent mark eclipsing the national average for public HBCUs by 5 percentage points.  The 2012 freshman class out performed the 2008 freshman class by 11 percentage points.  Over the same period, FAMU’s four-year graduation rate improved from 19.2 percent for the freshman class of 2012 to 22.5 percent for the freshman class of 2014.  This was up from 12.7 percent for the freshman class of 2010.

George Cotton, the former Florida A&M University vice president of university advancement, and executive director of the FAMU Foundation has filed suit against the University, the FAMU Board of Trustees, and the FAMU Foundation.  Cotton's lawsuit alleged FAMU President Larry Robinson and three members of the board of trustees conspired to get him fired.

FAMU, again, found itself in serious trouble with the NCAA and just barely escaped the "death penalty". Over a six year period, the NCAA determined that FAMU incorrectly certified over 93 student athletes in over 12 sports.  The new infractions occurred while FAMU was already on probation.

FAMU acknowledged that it did not meet NCAA certification requirements for 20 years.

June

News broke locally that FAMU Pharmacy Professor Mandip Sachdeva became the first scientist in the United States to reproduce a cornea using human cells in 3D. His groundbreaking research could help scientists get closer to helping people see again.  While this news certainly was a national news story, the university's inept communications office failed to properly capitalize on this good news.

FAMU received $13,750,113 in state performance based funding (PBF)  from the State University System's for the first time in three years, due in no small party to the handy work of FAMU grad State Rep. Ramon Alexander who pressed the BOG to eliminate its punitive practice of withholding funding from "bottom three" finishers regardless of whether or not they met the minimum threshold.

VP of Finance and Administration Wanda Ford abruptly resigned on the heels of news that she may have improperly used university funds to cover an athletic deficit.  Days later the Budget Director and Comptroller were also gone.

July

Coach Willie Simmons took to the air on his Willienium Coaches tour where he visited Washington, DC, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago to meet with alumni and raise funds.  In all, tour raised over $63,000 for FAMU football.  The 2019 tour showed us that Coach Simmons is a formidable fundraiser and that if he gets out on the road earlier to visit the Rattler faithful he could do well.

Mid-month, Athletic Director John Eason and VP for Advancement and Business Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud took to social media to hearld that they had closed the athletic department's projected $313,000 budget short fall. Though neither could really explain how.

Later it was reviled at a Board of Governors meeting that the short fall was closed by transferring money from the President's discretionary fund.

August

The Florida Department of Health is withholding over $2 million dollars in funding intended for use by FAMU’s Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative because it has determined that the program is out of compliance with legislative intent, according to sources close to the situation.  

By November, FAMU administrators were in front of a Senate Appropriations committee trying to explain the programs shortcomings. To say that the meeting did not go well would be an understatement.

September

FAMU rose to the Number 7 spot in U.S. News & World Report 2020 Best HBCU rankings, an increase of two slots, but finished as second best HBCU after NC A&T.  However, FAMU finished at No. 254 overall among universities nationally and was the highest ranked public HBCU, about 40 spots ahead of A&T.  

October

Perhaps, one of our most popular stories this year was the news about FAMU graduate Melissa Butler who’s pitch for funding  was turned down on the TV show Shark Tank. Butler overcame that rejection by striking a deal with Target Stores to carry her The Lip Bar, a full line of vegan beauty products for women, in 450 stores nationwide.  Nothing else says #RattlersWill like this. 

Melissa's story of turning rejection into triumph garnered over 43,000 views.

November

News surfaced of the Journalism Dean's unsavory predatory lending agreement with a subordinate.    

FAMU will eliminate its men’s tennis and men’s cross country programs in June 2020 as part of a plan to balance a projected $2.4 million athletic deficit

And, there was Assoc. VP of Finance and Admin. Archie Bouie's scathing abrupt resignation letter and two days later the revelation that he had been on both the both the payrolls of FAMU and Tougaloo College where he had accepted a job as VP for Finance and Administration.

December 
The year seems to be closing on a high-note as FAMU hired a new athletic director in Kortne Gosha, who wasted no time in assembling a new administrative team.  

Trustees also approved a fee shift which would raise the FAMU athletic fee by $3, while simultaneously reducing the technology fee by an equal amount.  The fee shift could potentially  raise nearly $4 million annually for athletics.  The athletic fee is a student fee and charged per hour based on a student's academic course load.