Rebecca Brown resigns as FAMU SVP & CFO

 

Rebecca Brown, the embattled Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer at FAMU, has resigned following a scathing state audit that revealed systemic financial disarray, millions in delayed payments, and a pattern of severe mismanagement during her tenure.

A scathing indictment from the BOG

Brown, who had served permanently in the role since January 2023 after an earlier interim stint, stepped down in early October. Her departure comes after several Florida Board of Governors members condemned her performance as a profound failure of leadership and fiscal stewardship at its June meeting.

“From my perspective, the CFO failed pretty miserably in this job,” said Aubrey Edge, a member of the Board of Governors and chair of its audit committee, in a blunt assessment. “She’s been there two years and five months, which is long enough to know that you’re not reconciling your statements.”

The operational audit, covering July 2022 through December 2023, laid bare a culture of negligence and poor oversight under Brown’s watch. Among the most alarming findings were 258 unpaid vendor invoices totaling $4.6 million—some left unresolved for more than 1,000 days. In a sampling of just 30 payments, eight were delayed between 50 and 388 days, a direct violation of state law requiring payment within 40 days.

The financial disarray extended deep into the university’s accounting practices. Auditors identified $88.4 million in unsupported journal entries prepared by outside consultants for the 2023-24 fiscal year. In one particularly egregious case, a single entry falsely inflated accounts receivable and financial aid revenues by $31.3 million—a staggering error that raises questions about the very integrity of the university’s financial reporting.

Perhaps most damning was the revelation that consultants hired to prepare financial statements made 28 entries totaling $683.4 million without any documented verification from FAMU staff—pointing to a near-total breakdown of internal controls.

Vendors refuse to do business
The consequences of this dysfunction have been felt across campus. Major vendors, including Office Depot, Best Buy, Apple, and local supplier Battery Source—FAMU’s primary golf cart provider—have periodically severed ties with the university due to chronic nonpayment, hampering daily operations and sparking frustration among faculty and researchers.

Budget Director Nichole Murray, has stepped in to serve as acting Sr. VP and CFO, since June. 

A leadership team unqualified and staff overwhelmed

The audit exposed more than just accounting errors; it revealed a crisis of leadership. Three of Brown’s top lieutenants—Associate VP Kendall Jones, AVP Mattie Hood, and AVP of HR Terrisa Brown (no relation)—were similarly scrutinized for their apparent lack of formal financial expertise in roles demanding precisely that.

Observers from the Board of Governors condemned what they labeled a clear leadership vacuum, suggesting Brown’s ascent was a classic case of the Peter Principle, “an example of someone who has been promoted well above their abilities.”

In a move that critics say exemplifies the university’s troubling tolerance for ineffective leadership, another Brown loyalist, Michael Smith, was named interim athletic director for the fifth time. Smith, an associate VP in Brown’s division, has been described by numerous campus insiders as having a “severe work allergy.”  Smith had served as interim AD in 2022 beginning in April overseeing the department leading up to the fiasco of 29 ineligible football players heading into its season opener against the University of North Carolina. 

 Prior to Brown's departure, AVP of HR Terrisa Brown was dismissed in late September.  Lorenzo Howard is serving as interim AVP of HR .

A quiet exit after a loud failure

Rebecca Brown was conspicuously absent from the June Board of Governors meeting where the audit and her performance was discussed, reportedly on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. By early October, having exhausted her leave options, she submitted her resignation.

Her quiet exit does little to mitigate the enormous mess left behind—a university grappling with broken vendor relationships, a shattered reputation for fiscal responsibility, and a financial ledger mired in discrepancies. Her resignation closes a chapter of failure, but the audit’s damning findings will linger as a costly testament to a administration that failed in its most basic duties.