In the latest of a series of moves days before the school’s winter break, the 13-member Board of Trustees of Florida A & M University on Monday rejected a call by Florida’s governor that President James Ammons be suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into the November death of a school band drum major.
The trustees’ decision came days after a county coroner in Florida ruled Robert Champion’s death a homicide. The coroner’s report cited injuries Champion, 26, received while participating in a hazing. Arrests of the students involved in the incident are expected upon completion of the investigation, which is being led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
“As a board, we are vested with the power and authority to govern and set policy for Florida A & M University,” says a statement released by DKC Public Relations, the New York firm hired by the trustees. “To clarify any concern, we are fully aware of our authority,” the trustees’ statement says in an apparent snub to Governor Rick Scott, who issued his call last week. “As is always the case, the board will act with the best interest of the university in mind and will not be influenced by pressure from political or other outside forces,” the statement says.
The board statement says members were holding off on making a decision about the fate of the president and others in the school’s administration … “until information and results from the ongoing investigations are made available to the board, enabling it to effectively conduct a fact-based deliberation on the role of the administration and the president in these matters.”
The decision against suspending Ammons came a week after the trustees voted for a “public reprimand” of the FAMU president over his “response” to the student’s death.
The 8-5 vote in favor of the reprimand came on the heels of announcements by Ammons that he was bowing to the wishes of the FDLE and reversing all disciplinary actions stemming from Champion’s death until law enforcement agents have finished their probe of the incident.
In that regard, Ammons reversed his expulsion of four students—all band members—in connection with the hazing incident. Prior to that, Ammons announced a reversal of his decision to terminate veteran school band director Dr. Julian White. Ammons said he was placing White on “leave” effective Dec. 6.
