Shawnta Friday Stroud, Florida A&M University’s vice president for university advancement and executive director of the FAMU Foundation, has been named as vice president amid controversy surrounding a shady $237 million endowment that has rocked the campus and its alumni. He resigned from his position as university president.
FAMU President Larry Robinson publicly announced his resignation Wednesday afternoon during a special virtual board meeting that was scheduled to discuss the multi-million dollar 10-year gift.
Friday Stroud University says approximately six FAMU employees accepted large gifts from Batterson Farms CEO Gregory Gerami without informing other key university stakeholders, including members of the FAMU Foundation Board of Directors As a result of this decision, we are in a crisis. and the board of directors.
Mr. Robinson also announced that the gift transaction had been “suspended”, days after providing a discreet update in which he said the historic gift had been put on hold.
But it wasn’t clear what exactly Robinson meant, including whether he was being denied a gift. A university spokesperson contacted late Wednesday said she could not explain Robinson’s comments.
The May 4 announcement initially drew national praise and pride in FAMU soared to unprecedented levels, but it was quickly overshadowed by a mountain of skepticism from FAMU alumni and others.
Robinson made the announcement, blaming poor vetting of donors who were honored as keynote speakers at spring commencement ceremonies and a crisis of confidence that clouded what was supposed to be a culminating moment. I did it.
“I wanted it to be authentic, but I ignored the warning signs along the way,” Robinson told the board. “The announcement at the opening ceremony was premature at best, and we apologize to everyone who witnessed it and shared the joy and joy.”
He added: “I believe that with the Board’s guidance, we will reach a more transparent process regarding these large gifts in the future.”
He also apologized to board chair Christine Harper, who shed tears when she heard the news of the gift at the graduation ceremony.
Shortly after Robinson’s apology, Harper accepted the pardon but accused Robinson of using her as a “prop.”
“They should not have been put on the spot or used for convenient photo and video recordings for gifts they knew nothing about,” Harper said sharply.
Due to a non-disclosure agreement, Harper was not among the aides with knowledge of the details of the gift. But she signed her gift agreement and was featured promoting her gift on the university’s social media pages.
During the meeting, Harper expressed frustration and disappointment with the reasoning behind Wednesday’s meeting and the impact it “certainly has on donor trust and confidence.”
“I fully support your decision to discontinue this transaction. This decision was made during the six months spent developing the gift, and the public disclosure that could tarnish the reputation of this university. “I wish it had been decided before that happened,” she said. .
FAMU board members are “unpleased” and “upset” by the current situation
A nearly two-hour special meeting of the FAMU Board of Directors was dominated by numerous recommendations, culminating in a unanimous vote to hire an outside firm to conduct a complete investigation of the organization’s major endowments since its founding.
The decision comes after Robinson recently announced that the large gift, said to be the largest gift in HBCU history, was “paused” during an emergency FAMU Foundation board meeting a week ago.
Investigations reveal what happened in the process that led to the acceptance of donations and determine compliance with policies, processes, and financial controls. The Board will also recommend corrective actions in a written report under the direction of Michael White, Chairman of the Board’s Audit and Compliance Committee.
Board members are expected to receive regular updates as the investigation begins.
As conversations about the outside investigation overhauled the Zoom meeting, there was no room left for Robinson or Friday Stroud to provide further information about the gifts to answer the trustees’ unanswered questions.
Board members, including Trustee Otis Curiatto II and Vice Chair Deveron Gibbons, understood that the primary purpose of the convocation was to clarify detailed plans for how the donations would be made. Because of this, they were dissatisfied and dissatisfied with the way the meeting was going.
“We’re here today to do one thing: find out the facts surrounding this particular donation, what happened and when it happened,” Gibbons said. . “I’m sitting here right now with over 100 questions written down.”
“This should not happen and we need to understand the facts,” he added. “This is disgusting and I’m angry that I have to sit here and do this now when all I could do is do my normal due diligence.”
Mr Cleart believed Mr Harper had jumped at the suggestion of an external audit early in the meeting, before any basic level of information had been shared to understand the scope of the opaque gift situation.
He also shared his feelings of dissatisfaction regarding the revelation of the large donation.
“I’m not happy with the university for making that decision, and I’m not happy for the president of the university to ask the president of the board to sit at the photo session, and I’m not happy that he sat there during the photo session. I’m not happy with the chairman either,”’ Curiatto said. “We are a governing body. We don’t do things without asking questions. We’re here because the university did things without asking questions.”
FAMU Trustee John Crossman, a longtime financial supporter and businessman of FAMU, said the process for agreeing to the donation and the way the donation was announced violates trust.
“The real question is how do we repair that trust,” Crossman said. “I’m wondering, isn’t the reason why President Robinson and others haven’t told us anything is because they don’t trust us? To rebuild that trust? How do we move forward?”
Learn more about Friday Stroud’s resignation
Prior to the board’s special meeting, Friday Stroud’s resignation was announced in a Rattler Nation blog post on Wednesday morning, in which a statement attributed to Robinson read: . Friday Stroud will return as dean of the College of Commerce and Industry. ”
“I have accepted her resignation and am grateful for her outstanding work in taking our fundraising efforts to new heights,” Robinson said during the Zoom board meeting.
In the meantime, Donald Palm, FAMU’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, will serve as interim vice president for university advancement. Robinson said he will appoint individuals to the position full-time after reviewing the search and selection process closely with trustees and the FAMU Foundation Board of Directors.
FAMU’s public information office declined to confirm the resignation before Wednesday afternoon’s board meeting, but Robinson disclosed the announcement at a special board meeting.
In addition to her roles with University Advancement and the FAMU Foundation, Friday Stroud has served as dean of FAMU’s College of Commerce and Industry since February 2010.
But before the endowment ignited, Friday-Stroud led FAMU to record levels of fundraising while serving as vice president for university advancement. The university said it raised about $26 million for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which ended June 30, exceeding its goal of $15 million.
Friday-Stroud was also selected by Robinson to chair an 18-person search committee that will ultimately hire Tiffany-Dawn Sykes as vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics in October 2022. This led to this.
Additionally, a national search for the vice president position began last year after Robinson announced a leadership turnaround plan that already included returning Friday-Stroud to the full-time dean position. It was.
Three finalists were initially announced during the search last June, but no public announcements have been made regarding the search since then.
The agenda for Wednesday afternoon’s special board meeting indicated that Mr. Friday Stroud would share an update on this significant gift with Mr. Robinson, but Mr. Friday Stroud did not speak at the board meeting.
Jerami, a young, little-known cannabis farmer from Texas, mysteriously turned up and surprised university officials with what he called an act of grand generosity. Jerami’s declaration at the May 4th graduation ceremony of a huge check that “the money is in the bank” led to media, alumni and others beginning to question the details of the gift, and the graduates’ poor performance record. I started looking into it and was immediately confused. donor.
In the course of reporting, the Tallahassee Democrat revealed that a woman identified by Gerami as co-CEO of Batterson Farms never received a salary and had never worked for Gerami. did.
The newspaper spoke to Jerami in multiple separate interviews and revealed that a judge determined that Jerami had a history of domestic violence, and that he was arrested for “domestic violence” in 2022.
Asked by trustees how the university would respond to growing questions about the endowment, Robinson said it had no intention of doing so.
“Given the impending investigation, we will have little to say about this matter,” Robinson said, adding that administrators will continue to spread positive news about the university’s impact on students and the community. .
While the board continues to grapple with the still-murky gift situation, with an investigation expected to begin soon, board member Kelvin Lawson faces another issue in the room: accountability. He said that something was imminent.
“At the end of the day, it’s going to be a liability issue,” Lawson said during the special meeting. “We’re going to have to make some decisions as a board about how we move forward.”
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X. @tarahjean_.
