[Tallahassee, FL] Sometimes, even governors don’t get their way.

Even though Gov. Rick Scott pushed and prodded for the suspension of Florida A&M University (FAMU) president Dr. James Ammons, the school’s Board of Trustees decided not to suspend Ammons while multiple high profile investigations play out.

Ammons also refused to voluntarily suspend himself after a personal meeting from Scott (FAMU student protestors returned the favor and personally met Scott at the Governor’s Mansion and offered a sizable rebuttal).

“I believe it would have been in the best interest of Florida A&M University for President Ammons to step aside until all of these investigations are completed,” said Scott on Monday. “However, we have a process in Florida for the administration of the State University System, and that process has been followed.”

And the governor appears to be letting the Trustees’ decision stand without any interference or further debate, despite the disagreement.

“I will abide by the decision made by the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees,” Scott said.

Gov. Scott asked the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to investigate, and in turn, FDLE asked FAMU to not fire band director Julian White or expel any student while the investigation was underway.

Which is why Scott’s push to get Ammons out of the way was being viewed as counterproductive by the school’s alumni.

On Monday, FAMU Alumni Association President Tommy Mitchell asked for patience and for the investigators to have time to do their job.

“The Florida A & M National Alumni Association wants the complete story told and all the facts to be released,” Mitchell was quoted as saying during a press conference. “No new evidence other than a medical examiner’s report has been made public. Investigations being performed by the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office are incomplete, while other non law enforcement agency investigations are in progress or pending.”

Photo: Mark Christopher/Sunshine Slate Images

Gov. Scott asked for, but did not receive, Ammons’ suspension

Mitchell was also critical of Scott for his actions, going so far as to say that the governor may have violated the Florida Constitution by trying to directly influence the Board of Trustees. At the press conference, Mitchell read excerpt of a warning letter sent to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on College.

“The governing board is free from undue influence from political, religious or other external bodies, and protects the institute from such influence,” said Mitchell, reading an excerpt from the letter.

Mitchell is concerned that interference could “jeopardize the accreditation of the university, as well as its ability to provide federal financial aid to its students.”

The school, Ammons and Scott have been front page news for weeks over the hazing death of Robert Champion, a drum major with FAMU’s famed Marching “100″ band. Champion’s death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy was performed by the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner’s Office.

The medical examiner’s report concluded that Champion’s death was “the result of hemorrhagic shock due to soft tissue hemorrhage, incurred by blunt force trauma sustained during a hazing incident.”

Since that scandal-tragedy broke out and scrutiny on the school intensified, a child molestation case has surfaced along with charges of fraud and misconduct (associated with Champion’s death).

According to the governor, there are also fresh allegations of financial improprieties (the school has a history in this area). Scott, apparently, had had enough and was looking for a change in the school’s leadership. If it was his decision alone, Ammons would already have been out the door.

But it is not, so Ammons is staying.

“The FAMU Board of Trustees has already publicly reprimanded Dr. Ammons,” said Scott. “This week, I learned of reports of at least one child molestation case that took place on campus, an incident Dr. Ammons told me in my office he was not made aware of until months after its occurrence. Based on all of these facts, I merely suggested it would be wise for Dr. Ammons to step aside until these investigations are completed.”

Suggested? Wise? Those are the words that sparked Mitchell and the alumni to call interference on Scott.

Throughout all of this chaos, Scott – certainly aware of the political and racial implications of appearing to hard target a predominately African-American institution – is trying to keep the political fire from getting out of control.

The governor was quick to say that, “I immediately called on all Universities throughout the state to examine their hazing and harassment policies and requested that the state’s eleven public university presidents also remind their students, faculty and staff of how detrimental hazing can be.”

By: Mark Christopher/Sunshine Slate

Lead image: FAMU

Florida A&M University

[Tallahassee, FL] The president of Florida A&M University (FAMU) said after a meeting with Gov. Rick Scott on Friday that he would consider stepping aside while the investigation into the hazing rituals and finances of the school’s famous “Marching 100″ band continues.

President James Ammons’ statement came on commencement day for FAMU, adding a touch of dissonance to a day on which Scott came under fire for his recommendation and Orange County medical examiners officially ruled the hazing death of Robert Champion a homicide.

Ammons and Scott met for about 40 minutes the day after the governor called for Ammons to be suspended at a special meeting of the FAMU board of trustees scheduled for Monday morning.

“He thought that it was in the best interest of the university and myself, that there wouldn’t be any questions about how the investigation would be carried out by stepping aside, letting the investigations be complete, and then come back after,” Ammons said.

Asked if he agreed with the governor’s recommendation, Ammons said: “It’s something that I’m considering.”

But Scott faced an onslaught of criticism from Florida A&M University students – hundreds of whom gathered outside the Governor’s Mansion on Thursday evening – and graduates of the school.

State Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D-18/Tampa) – the Minority Leader Pro Tempore – issued a scalding statement calling for Scott to back down.

“It’s particularly galling that the governor justifies his action as a way to assure people the university is fully cooperating,” Joyner said. “This is the same Rick Scott who had no similar compunction to immediately step aside as CEO of HCA when the FBI launched its probe into what became the largest health care fraud case ever in this country’s history.”

Photo: FL Senate

Sen. Arthenia Joyner of Tampa

Ammons was notably more muted after his meeting with Scott, calling it “a great conversation” and saying he believed the governor was looking out for FAMU.

“We all have the best interests of Florida A&M University at heart, and we’re all going to do what is best for the university,” Ammons said.

For his part, Scott showed no signs of backing away from his calls for Ammons’ temporary ouster.

“I believe that it’s in the best interest of the institution that he step aside at this point to make sure everybody’s comfortable that we have an investigation, that there’s complete cooperation, that it’s transparent,” Scott told reporters earlier in the day.

Orange County medical examiners, meanwhile, officially ruled Champion’s death a homicide, saying he went into shock following “multiple blunt trauma blows to his body.” In a statement following the report, Ammons and trustees Chairman Solomon Badger said the news was expected but “extremely upsetting.”

Champion, a 26-year-old band leader, died after what police say appears to have been a hazing following the annual Florida Classic football game between FAMU and Bethune Cookman on Nov. 19.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Wednesday that its investigation in Champion’s death was widening to include the band’s finances.

The incident has turned into one of the first major public-relations tests of Scott’s administration, both in his decision to announce Thursday that he thought Ammons should step aside and in his response to the sometimes-raucous reaction to it by student protestors.

Scott reportedly riled some of the protestors when he tried to relate to the students by mentioning that he lived in public housing when he was younger – an anecdote that also offended black lawmakers at a meeting with the governor earlier this year, with some of them taking it as a suggestion that Scott believed that all blacks grow up poor.

It could also test his clout with the board of trustees, who will meet by telephone Monday morning to weigh Ammons’ fate again, after voting last week to reprimand the president but not place him on administrative leave.

“Any time the governor speaks, it creates pressure,” said former state Sen. Al Lawson, a Florida A&M University alumnus and prominent backer of the school, who met with Ammons and Scott. “And so, I think that it’s going to be a long weekend for them.”

By: Brandon Larrabee/The News Service of Florida

Lead image: FAMU presdient James Ammons speaks to reporters after meeting with Gov. Scott. Photo: Michael Peltier/The News Service of Florida

Florida A&M University