Guest AuthorSay you’re a new university president and you’re leading a university that has had two “permanent” presidents and two “interim” presidents in the last decade.
Say you came from an Ivy League school, ranked 15th best in the country, according to The US News & World Report.
Say you have had an unblemished professional career.
Furthermore, say you hired a brash, cocky, but go-getting athletic director serious about making changes to an under-performing program.
But then, your board of trustees, fully aware of the problems with the athletics program, passes a unanimous resolution of no-confidence in your AD.
You don’t understand. You think an AD making decisions based on numbers and facts should have some leeway.
You think it’s your job to run the university. You wonder whether this was a power play, a passive-aggressive act.
Say, you’re Florida A&M President Elmira Mangum.
Welcome to FAMU, President Mangum!
Oh, cry me a river about the way former football Coach Earl Holmes was fired.
Once aware that FAMU fans were dissatisfied that Holmes was fired four days before the school’s homecoming, AD Kellen Winslow formed a search committee to hire the next coach.
Most people — on Facebook, at least — acknowledged how unusual that was. Winslow was contrite. He manfully, and petulantly, suffered boos during FAMU’s Homecoming convocation. So yes, he learned.
Did the Board of Trustees have to pile on?
These are tough days for Mangum. Before she had a chance to pick out her office decor, the Legislature was prepared to eliminate the joint engineering program between FAMU and Florida State.
(Oh, don’t we just love the new FSU prez John Thrasher?)
But I digress.
She had to quickly rally the school behind a lobbying effort to force the Legislature to kick the matter over to the Florida Board of Governors for further study.
The future is fraught for FAMU.
Recently, former FAMU President Frederick Humphries sounded the alarm about the tenuous situation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in a Facebook post. He notes that HBCUs, especially FAMU, aren’t in any position to strut. They remain embattled — as they have always been.
Once, it was racial inequality, sub-standard facilities, and funding inequities under Jim Crow. Today, it is funding inequities and the mixed blessing of integration. Humphries called on FAMUans to respect their history, give more, be aware of the forces against it.
But it’s his final thought that merits consideration.
Said Humphries: “I firmly believe that our new President, Dr. Elmira Mangum, absolutely can’t fail. This presidency is at one of the most consequential crossroads in University history. We are at an inflection point – The long term position of the University will be determined on her watch [sic.]. “
For all to see, FAMU’s Board of Trustees showed it can’t stomach change.
While Humphries slyly attacked Mangun and Winslow for bringing a “PWI” — predominantly white institution — way of doing things to FAMU without the appropriate nuance, there’s more to it than that.
(Anyway, that “PWI” notion is total cant. In real world parlance, it’s called “professionalism” and “success.”)
Winslow’s efforts are reform in miniature. Essentially, they are a test case for the broader change needed at FAMU. So far, FAMU ain’t handling it well.
But here’s where Humphries is right: after years of failure at the presidential level, FAMU cannot afford another failure. FAMUans have to get it together, too.
FAMU athletics, because of its glaring problems, is the right battle for Mangum. It touches all pillars of the FAMU community: alumni, students, staff –everything.
So the problem, finally, is with FAMU’s trustees.
Nowadays, HBCUs tend to have dysfunctional trustees — either there’s cronyism or meddlesome members attempting to browbeat presidents.
In this instance, the power play between Mangum and FAMU’s trustees is another example of FAMU turning its head away from harsh reality.
Here’s the ugly reality: keep operating or close.
Mangum’s got quite a job to do. For its sake, FAMU needs to let her do it.
Chris Timmons is a writer living in Tallahassee. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
