'Horrible job': FAMU trustees reflect on 'reputational work' after donation debacle

The fallout from a critically mishandled "fraudulent" donation is prompting more in-depth reflection from the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees at their annual retreat.

During a Wednesday board retreat at Bradley's Pond in Tallahassee, Artis Hampshire-Cowan – a consultant for the university who is also owner of the firm Leverage Leadership Group – informed trustees that the university is facing operational, legal and regulatory, financial, political and reputational risks after a stock donation purportedly valued at $237 million turned out to be "baseless."

"As a board, and as a university, I think we did a horrible job," FAMU trustee Otis Cliatt said Wednesday morning as he attended the retreat via Zoom. "One of the things that led to that horrible job is because in times of crisis and in times of emergency, that's when we should revert back to our processes and procedures and when we should revert back to trusting one another."

The retreat was kicked off by a session titled "Governance During a Storm," which included an exercise where trustees discussed their behavior and actions after the surprise $237 million gift announcement from little-known Texas hemp farmer Gregory Gerami at FAMU's summer commencement ceremony.

The purported donation was hailed as a "transformative" gift and the largest in history among historically black colleges and universities. It captured national headlines that quickly led to skepticism and then embarrassment as it was "paused" before later being found "fraudulent" in an investigative report by a law firm.

None of the FAMU trustees were included in the inner circle that knew about the details of the gift, which the report says was due to former FAMU President Larry Robinson's "lack of trust in the university's senior leadership team and the university Board of Trustees' ability to maintain confidentiality and not leak information."

Ahead of the report's release, School of Business and Industry Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud — who was recently reappointed as the business school's Sybil Collins Mobley endowed chair and named executive director for Strategic Partnerships and Business Development — resigned from her previous roles as vice president of University Advancement and executive director of the FAMU Foundation.

Friday-Stroud's resignation amid the gift's aftermath was followed by Larry Robinson's decision to step down, which concluded his nearly seven-year presidential tenure.

In August, the board met to discuss the investigative report , which also lays out how the university "improperly handled" the gift during its private vetting process.

More: 'Lack of common sense': FAMU trustees discuss report on 'fraudulent' donation

FAMU's reputational damage was barely addressed in the August meeting, but Wednesday, trustee Kelvin Lawson pondered the full impact of the donation mess on the No. 1 ranked public HBCU in the nation.

"I unfortunately get back to when we lost a student in the band. It took us some time and a lot of reputational work, for lack of a better term, to get back to our pinnacle," said Lawson, referring to the fallout from the November 2011 hazing death of Marching "100" drum major Robert Champion.

"I see this in a similar fashion," Lawson said. "There are things deliberately that we're going to need to do to enhance our reputation, rebuild our credibility and enhance our oversight."

As the donation debacle continues to be a main topic for the board, trustees like Chair Kristin Harper shared how the whole thing was "shocking."

"We're all doers, we're all problem solvers," Harper said, "and I think part of the tension we experienced was one, not having adequate information and being blindsided. Number two is especially not having adequate information with the role that we serve as fiduciaries and the embarrassment, quite frankly, that comes from that."

The board voted in August to develop an action plan and a timeline on implementing recommendations from the law firm. They include modifying the FAMU Foundation's policies and guidelines and adding clear language to regulations that detail the president's responsibility in providing information to the university's Board of Trustees related to financial matters.

FAMU's interim President Timothy Beard along with Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Donald Palm were tasked with creating the plan, which has multiple implementation deadlines ranging from the end of September to January 2025.

On Wednesday, Beard encouraged trustees to reach out to him as needed at least once a month for effective communication.

"Sometimes, it just takes time during the transition, but we want you all to really feel free to ask us anything," Beard told trustees. "The main thing is I work for you, and I'm going to be available."

Trustees' self-evaluation: 'We need to tighten up'

After reflecting on the donation, board members turned to their annual self-evaluation, which revealed lower results this year compared to previous years.

"I found this assessment to be right on point with what we're experiencing," Hampshire-Cowan said. "To no surprise, this year's ratings are down from what they were in the past."

An average of the board's self-rated performance consists of six categories with a rating scale of one to five, where one is poor, two is below average, three is average, four is above average and five is superior.

When it comes to board organization, governance and leadership, the board's average score was a 3.1 compared to a 4.1 average in 2023. In 2021, the average was a 4.5.

In the category of board relations, the average score was a 3.3 compared to a 4.0 last year.

"This year has been a very rocky relationship with the administration in terms of communication with the board and the president holding his management accountable in achieving the stated priority set by the board," a trustee noted in the comments.

"It's going well but we need to tighten up communication and clarity of goals," another trustee wrote.

The fallout from the donation and the evaluation period comes at a time in which the university's board has several new faces – including trustees Michael White, Deveron Gibbons, Natlie Figgers and John Crossman, who were all appointed within the last year and a half.

Other scores in the self-evaluation were a 3.6 compared to a 3.9 last year in a policy category, a 3.7 compared to a 3.9 last year for university operations and performance, a 3.5 compared to a 4.1 last year for institutional sustainability and a 3.0 compared to a 3.3 last year for board education.

In the self-evaluation, the trustees admitted a need for more transparency and cohesiveness.

"As fiduciaries of FAMU, the board must align and be cohesive," a trustee commented. "Disagreement is fine; being disagreeable is NOT."

Another trustee stated that "board members must be held accountable for misconduct and respect each other, FAMU and the board. Disrespect and damage to the board and FAMU's reputation is unacceptable."

After the trustees reviewed the self-evaluation results, Hampshire-Cowan complimented the group on being a "great board" but said it's "not high performing yet."

Her recommendations for the trustees included having discussions to determine their information needs in order to govern effectively and efficiently. She also suggested conducting a brief assessment at the end of every committee and board meeting to ensure that priorities have been addressed.

"Just think about the building blocks that you want to adopt and lean into as a way to become a high performing board," Hampshire-Cowan said.

The FAMU trustees will meet again Thursday morning for committee meetings followed by a full board meeting at 11 a.m. at the university's Lawson Center. The meeting is open to the public.

Contact Tarah Jean at  tjean@tallahassee.com  or follow her on X:  @tarahjean_ .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU trustees discuss university reputation after donation debacle