FAMU, Florida’s only public Historically Black University (HBCU), is riding a wave of recognition for its academic excellence and social impact even as a brewing political battle threatens to redefine its future.
A legacy of excellence
FAMU has solidified its reputation as one of the nation’s top public institutions, climbing to No. 81 among public universities in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings—a 10-spot jump from 2024 and a dramatic rise from No. 123 in 2020. The university now ranks No. 152 overall among all national universities, public and private, while maintaining its status as a No. 20 standout on the Social Mobility Index, which measures how effectively institutions elevate the economic trajectories of students and families.
With $100 million in annual research awards—a record for the institution—and a No. 87 ranking for Best Value, FAMU continues to balance affordability with outcomes, offering low-cost tuition and programs that propel graduates into high-earning careers.
A clash over mission and values
The accolades, however, are shadowed by a contentious push from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his pawns who hold the majority on FAMU’s Board of Trustees, who are working feverishly to install Marva Brown Johnson as the university's 13th president. Johnson is a politically connected hack in Florida's GOP circles who previously served as chair of the State Board of Education (which oversees K-12 schools and 2-year colleges) and as Chair of DeSantis' education transition team.
DeSantis’ push to influence FAMU’s leadership is not merely administrative but deeply ideological. It represents a calculated effort to subvert the university’s mission as an HBCU, suppress progressive scholarship, stifle the growth of the black middle class, and force his conservative indoctrination upon the university. It is a pivotal battle for the soul of HBCUs—and higher education at large—in an era of escalating cultural and ideological warfare.
The DeSantis playbook: A blueprint for “reconquering” HBCUs
If DeSantis can turn FAMU into a victory, it’ll be a model for other southern Governors to reconquer their HBCUs nationwide. His vision includes scrapping FAMU’s curriculum for a DeSantis-approved “core” and purging programs deemed inconsistent with GOP ideology.
Trustees backing Johnson, many of whom are not FAMU alumni, have dismissed concerns about her polarizing record. “We’re modernizing, not demolishing,” argued one board member, a DeSantis appointee.
“This isn’t about improving FAMU—it’s about conquest,” said Marie Rattigan, a 2018 (BS) and 2021 (MPA) FAMU graduate. “FAMU gave me a space to thrive as a Black scholar. What’s happening now feels like an assault on everything that makes HBCUs sacred.”
Malcolm X’s adage—“Education is the passport to the future”—resonates deeply here. For decades, FAMU has provided that passport to generations of Black students. Now, as the Supreme Court’s 2023 affirmative action ruling trickles down to challenge minority scholarships, alumni fear that DeSantis/Johnson’s leadership would accelerate the erosion of access.
A university at a crossroads
Earlier this week, the Florida Politics Blog, heralded Johnson as the well-connected "president FAMU need and deserves." "She would bring a rare and powerful combination of public policy leadership, private sector experience, and unwavering commitment to student success," the Blog wrote.
Additional, Florida Politics seemed to overlook a critical assessment of Johnson's long public track record of dismantling “progressive” policies. As chair of Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission she, along with FAMU Trustee Nicole Washington, helped to steer billions of state dollars from Florida's public school system to religious private and charter schools.
For Rattigan and thousands of FAMU alumni, the fight is deeply personal. “FAMU isn’t just a school. It’s where I learned to embrace my identity as a Black woman,” she said. “If that space is poisoned by politics, where do we go next?”
And, remember that Washington was one of the main reasons why the P3 project to upgrade FAMU campus infrastructure failed.
ReplyDeleteDeSantis has appointed a bunch of "stool pigeons" as Trustees who's only charge is to do his bidding or enforce his will, NOT to look to out for the best interest of the institution. Our Trustees lack independent judgement or fortitude to offer any push back to DeSantis OR the BOG.
ReplyDelete#MAGAMarva should do the honorable thing and drop out now!
ReplyDeleteThe Whole U.S.A. system is corrupt; "Is there anyone good? The Prophecy is being fulfilled, right before eyes. "So therefore it's nothing new under the sun". Greed, Evilness Bitterness, Envy, Jealousy.😔🙏🏾🙏🏾
ReplyDeleteThis is such a typically cynical move by Desantis. He's spent the last several years framing Diversity Equity and Inclusion as promoting unqualified people over highly qualified (presumably white) men. Then he injects a woman with no higher education experience into FAMU's selection process to create the "DEI dilemma" for the search committee. Meanwhile, Desantis has a Rick Scott problem siphoning Medicaid money through his wife's illegitimate non-profit to political action.
ReplyDeleteFlorida is down bad.
No MAGA MARVA!!
ReplyDeleteDeSantis needs to focus on his own issues of reported stolen millions of Medicaid funds that he moved into his wife's account. And Marva needs to find somewhere else to be used as the good 'black woman' to do the devil's bidding.
ReplyDeleteFAMU push back like never before. At one point they wanted you to be FSU south campus...now this. Do not go silently into the night. Strike, strike and strike, again.