Marva Johnson is the right choice for Florida A&M University | Barney Bishop III

Much has been written and said about Florida A&M University's new President-elect, Marva Johnson, and as a former board of trustee member appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush, let us put everything in the proper perspective.

First, every governor has exerted influence in the selection of university presidents, some more than others, and governors have an obligation to because higher education is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.

Second, Florida university presidents are not academicians anymore, with a few exceptions, but politicians, former politicians, and friends of politicians. To lament that is to ignore the fact that Florida has been the No. 1 university system in the country for some time now.

Third, university presidents do not run the university; they have a provost for that, along with a COO and a CFO, and a host of other administrators.

Fourth, the best Florida presidents know how to walk the halls of the legislature to secure new buildings, classrooms, residence halls, and use their insightful understanding of the appropriations and legislative process to bring home the millions needed to succeed.

They also know that they must work with their board of trustees, the Board of Governors, and the governor.

FAMU is special not only because it is the only public HBCU in Florida, but also because it has special programs that graduates more minorities than any other HBCU in the country, and most are first-time college students.

The College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Public Health, is highly reputed, and its School of Business & Industry has been a trendsetter for decades, and corporate America recruits heavily from the SBI.

FAMU again has been designated, for the sixth consecutive year, the No. 1 public HBCU in the nation, and the third best among both public and private HBCUs.

FAMU also just achieved a very high honor when it earned dual recognition in the 2025 Carnegie Classification as both a Research 2 University and an Opportunity College and University, an outstanding accomplishment despite FAMU being historically disrespected and discriminated against, which has only made the university stronger and better.

Fifth, no president of any university has ever "dismantled" a university, and FAMU will not become the first one, as that is just overheated hyperbole and plain hogwash.

Johnson, whom I have met on several occasions over the years, has all the tools to be a highly successful university president, and frankly, FAMU is quite lucky to have someone with her talents, connections, and lobbying experience, and the support of the legislature, Board of Governors, and the governor.

Her appointment portends well that FAMU will receive the additional dollars necessary to continue to reach new heights.

While some contend her selection is about ideology, you are wrong. A university's responsibility is not to promote any one ideology or philosophy, but rather to teach students to think outside the box, to listen and understand all points of view - whether you agree with them or not - and then to be able to articulate your position cogently.

FAMUans have a glorious history of doing all these things very well.

Barney Bishop III is a former executive director of the Florida Democratic Party and a CEO of Associated Industries of Florida.  He is currently the CEO of Barney Bishop Consulting and can be reached at Barney@BarneyBishop.com .

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Marva Johnson is the right choice for Florida A&M University | Opinion